Smoking article incorporating a conductive substrate

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a conductive substrate useful for Joule heating, such as in an electronic smoking article. Particularly, the invention provides a resistive heating element formed of a conductive substrate. The conductive substrate comprises an electrically conductive material and a carbonaceous additive, such as a binder material. The conductive substrate is carbonized in that it is subjected to calcining conditions to effectively reduce the carbonaceous additive to its carbon skeleton. It has been found that such carbonized substrate has surprisingly improved resistance properties in relation a substrate of the same formulation that is not carbonized. The carbonized substrate can include an aerosol precursor material. The formed resistive heating element can be included in an electronic smoking article to simultaneously provide resistive heating and aerosol formation with a single, unitary component.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to aerosol delivery articles and usesthereof for yielding tobacco components or other materials in aninhalable form. The articles may be made or derived from tobacco orotherwise incorporate tobacco for human consumption.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many smoking articles have been proposed through the years asimprovements upon, or alternatives to, smoking products based uponcombusting tobacco. Exemplary alternatives have included devices whereina solid or liquid fuel is combusted to transfer heat to tobacco orwherein a chemical reaction is used to provide such heat source.Numerous references have proposed various smoking articles of a typethat generate flavored vapor, visible aerosol, or a mixture of flavoredvapor and visible aerosol. Some of those proposed types of smokingarticles include tubular sections or longitudinally extending airpassageways.

The point of the improvements or alternatives to smoking articlestypically has been to provide the sensations associated with cigarette,cigar, or pipe smoking, without delivering considerable quantities ofincomplete combustion and pyrolysis products. To this end, there havebeen proposed numerous smoking products, flavor generators, andmedicinal inhalers which utilize electrical energy to vaporize or heat avolatile material, or attempt to provide the sensations of cigarette,cigar, or pipe smoking without burning tobacco.

General examples of alternative smoking articles are described in U.S.Pat. No. 3,258,015 to Ellis et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,356,094 to Ellis etal.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,516,417 to Moses; U.S. Pat. No. 4,347,855 toLanzellotti et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,072 to Bolt et al.; U.S. Pat.No. 4,391,285 to Burnett et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,917,121 to Riehl etal.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,924,886 to Litzinger; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,676to Hearn et al. Many of those types of smoking articles have employed acombustible fuel source that is burned to provide an aerosol and/or toheat an aerosol-forming material. See, for example, the background artcited in U.S. Pat. No. 4,714,082 to Banerjee et al. and U.S. Pat. No.4,771,795 to White et al.; which are incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties. See, also, for example, those types of smokingarticles described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,756,318 to Clearman et al.; U.S.Pat. No. 4,714,082 to Banerjee et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,771,795 to Whiteet al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,365 to Sensabaugh et al.; U.S. Pat. No.4,917,128 to Clearman et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,961,438 to Korte; U.S.Pat. No. 4,966,171 to Serrano et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,969,476 to Bale etal.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,991,606 to Serrano et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,020,548to Farrier et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,483 to Clearman et al.; U.S. Pat.No. 5,040,551 to Schlatter et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,050,621 to Creightonet al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,065,776 to Lawson; U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,296 toNystrom et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,297 to Farrier et al.; U.S. Pat. No.5,099,861 to Clearman et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,835 to Drewett et al.;U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,837 to Barnes et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,115,820 toHauser et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,148,821 to Best et al.; U.S. Pat. No.5,159,940 to Hayward et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,178,167 to Riggs et al.;U.S. Pat. No. 5,183,062 to Clearman et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,211,684 toShannon et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,240,014 to Deevi et al.; U.S. Pat. No.5,240,016 to Nichols et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,345,955 to Clearman et al.;U.S. Pat. No. 5,551,451 to Riggs et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,577 toBensalem et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,819,751 to Barnes et al.; U.S. Pat. No.6,089,857 to Matsuura et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,095,152 to Beven et al;U.S. Pat. No. 6,578,584 Beven; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,730,832 to Dominguez;which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.Furthermore, certain types of cigarettes that employ carbonaceous fuelelements have been commercially marketed under the brand names “Premier”and “Eclipse” by R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. See, for example, thosetypes of cigarettes described in Chemical and Biological Studies on NewCigarette Prototypes that Heat Instead of Burn Tobacco, R. J. ReynoldsTobacco Company Monograph (1988) and Inhalation Toxicology, 12:5, p.1-58 (2000). See also US Pat. Pub. No. 2005/0274390 to Banerjee et al.,US Pat. Pub. No. 2007/0215167 to Crooks et al., US Pat. Pub. No.2010/0065075 to Banerjee et al., and US Pat. Pub. No. 2012/0042885 toStone et al., the disclosures of which are incorporated herein byreference in their entireties.

Certain proposed cigarette-shaped tobacco products purportedly employtobacco in a form that is not intended to be burned to any significantdegree. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,225 to Sudoh; U.S. Pat.No. 4,972,855 to Kuriyama et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,293,883 toEdwards, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.Yet other types of smoking articles, such as those types of smokingarticles that generate flavored vapors by subjecting tobacco orprocessed tobaccos to heat produced from chemical or electrical heatsources, are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,848,374 to Chard et al.; U.S.Pat. Nos. 4,947,874 and 4,947,875 to Brooks et al.; U.S. Pat. No.5,060,671 to Counts et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,146,934 to Deevi et al.;U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,498 to Deevi; U.S. Pat. No. 5,285,798 to Banerjee etal.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,357,984 to Farrier et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,593,792to Farrier et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,369,723 to Counts; U.S. Pat. No.5,692,525 to Counts et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,865,185 to Collins et al.;U.S. Pat. No. 5,878,752 to Adams et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,880,439 toDeevi et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,915,387 to Baggett et al.; U.S. Pat. No.5,934,289 to Watkins et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,033,623 to Deevi et al.;U.S. Pat. No. 6,053,176 to Adams et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,164,287 toWhite; U.S. Pat. No. 6,289,898 to Fournier et al.; U.S. Pat. No.6,615,840 to Fournier et al.; U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2003/0131859 to Li etal.; U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2005/0016549 to Banerjee et al.; and U.S. Pat.Pub. No. 2006/0185687 to Hearn et al., each of which is incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety.

Certain attempts have been made to deliver vapors, sprays or aerosols,such as those possessing or incorporating flavors and/or nicotine. See,for example, the types of devices set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,190,046to Virag; U.S. Pat. No. 4,284,089 to Ray; U.S. Pat. No. 4,635,651 toJacobs; U.S. Pat. No. 4,735,217 to Gerth et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,800,903to Ray et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,574 to Ingebrethsen et al.; U.S. Pat.No. 5,799,663 to Gross et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,532,965 to Abhulimen etal.; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,598,607 to Adiga et al; and EP 1,618,803 toHon; which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. Seealso, U.S. Pat. No. 7,117,867 to Cox et al. and the devices set forth onthe website, www.e-cig.com, which are incorporated herein by referencein their entireties.

Still further representative cigarettes or smoking articles that havebeen described and, in some instances, been made commercially availableinclude those described in U.S. Pat No. 4,922,901 to Brooks et al.; U.S.Pat. No. 5,249,586 to Morgan et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,594 to Countset al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,666,977 to Higgins et al.; U.S. Pat No.6,196,218 to Voges; U.S. Pat. No. 6,810,883 to Felter et al.; U.S. Pat.No. 6,854,461 to Nichols; U.S. Pat. No. 7,832,410 to Hon; U.S. Pat. No.7,513,253 to Kobayashi; U.S. Pat. No. 7,726,320 to Robinson et al.; U.S.Pat. No. 7,896,006 to Hamano; U.S. Pat. No. 6,772,756 to Shayan; US Pat.Pub. No. 2009/0095311 to Hon; US Pat. Pub. Nos. 2006/0196518,2009/0126745, and 2009/0188490 to Hon; US Pat. Pub. No. 2009/0272379 toThorens et al.; US Pat. Pub. Nos. 2009/0260641 and 2009/0260642 toMonsees et al.; US Pat. Pub. Nos. 2008/0149118 and 2010/0024834 toOglesby et al.; US Pat. Pub. No. 2010/0307518 to Wang; and WO2010/091593 to Hon. Still further examples include electronic cigaretteproducts commercially available under the names ACCORD®; HEATBAR™;HYBRID CIGARETTE®, VEGAS™; E-GAR™; C-GAR™; E-MYSTICK™; IOLITE®Vaporizer, GREEN SMOKE®, BLU™ Cigs, WHITE CLOUD® Cirrus, V2CIGS™, SOUTHBEACH SMOKE™, SMOKETIP®, SMOKE STIK®, NJOY®, LUCI®, Royal Blues, SMARTSMOKER®, SMOKE ASSIST®, Knight Sticks, GAMUCCI®, InnoVapor, SMOKINGEVERYWHERE®, Crown 7, CHOICE™ NO.7™, VAPORKING®, EPUFFER®, LOGIC™ ecig,VAPOR4LIFE®, NICOTEK®, METRO®, and PREMIUM™.

Smoking articles that employ tobacco substitute materials and smokingarticles that employ sources of heat other than burning tobacco cutfiller to produce tobacco-flavored vapors or tobacco-flavored visibleaerosols have not received widespread commercial success. Articles thatproduce the taste and sensation of smoking by electrically heatingtobacco particularly have suffered from inconsistent release of flavorsor other inhalable materials. Electrically heated smoking devices havefurther been limited in many instances to the requirement of an externalheating device that was inconvenient and that detracted from the smokingexperience. Accordingly, it can be desirable to provide a smokingarticle that can provide the sensations of cigarette, cigar, or pipesmoking, that does so without combusting tobacco, that does so withoutthe need of a combustion heat source, and that does so withoutnecessarily delivering considerable quantities of incomplete combustionand pyrolysis products.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides articles that are useful for oraldelivery of inhalable materials. The articles particularly comprise aresistive heating element formed of a conductive substrate wherein anelectrically conductive material is integrally formed with a carriermaterial that can be coated or impregnated with materials that can bevaporized or aerosolized for inhalation. The formed aerosol and/or vaporcan be inhaled similarly to the manner of smoking a conventionalcigarette. Thus, the inventive article can particularly be referred toas a smoking article.

In one aspect, the invention thus provides a resistive heating element.The resistive heating element beneficially includes componentssufficient such that the resistive heating element functions as both aheating element and a substrate for retaining an aerosol precursor andother optional materials. For example, the resistive heating element cancomprise a substrate that is formed from an electrically conductivematerial and at least one carbonaceous additive. Preferably, thesubstrate, or at least a part thereof, is carbonized (i.e., has beensubjected to calcining conditions, preferably in an inert atmosphere, soas to increase the relative carbon content of the substrate). Forexample, in some embodiments, the conductive substrate may comprise aplurality of components that are combined (e.g., a core wrapped by afurther material or an exterior material wrapping a core, wherein onlyone of the core and the exterior wrapping material is carbonized). Theresistive heating element further can comprise an aerosol precursormaterial associated with the carbonized substrate. Beneficially, suchresistive heating element can exhibit an electrical resistance makingthe material useful for providing resistive heating in response to anapplied current. For example, the resistive heating element can exhibitan electrical resistance of about 25 ohms or less in some embodiments.More preferably, the resistive heating element can have an electricalresistance of about 10 ohms or less, or the electrical resistance can bein the range of about 0.1 ohms to about 10 ohms. Because the resistiveheating element is formed of a combination of a substrate and anelectrically conductive material, a conductive substrate as discussedherein can be considered to be a resistive heating element.

A variety of electrically conductive materials can be used in theresistive heating element. For example, the electrically conductivematerial can comprise graphite. In other embodiments, the electricallyconductive material can comprise a metal. The electrically conductivematerial specifically can be used in a particulate form.

The carbonaceous additive of the substrate can encompass a variety ofmaterials. For example, the carbonaceous additive can comprise tobaccoor a tobacco derivative. In some embodiments, the carbonaceous additivecan simply comprise elemental carbon, such as a milled carbon or anactivated carbon. In embodiments where elemental carbon is used, it canbe beneficial to include one or more further carbonaceous additives. Forexample, the carbonaceous additive can comprise a binder, which can be apolysaccharide or a derivative thereof. More particularly, a usefulbinder can comprise a gum, a cellulose material, or a cellulosederivative. Non-limiting examples include guar gum, carboxymethylcellulose, and combinations thereof. Inorganic binders also can be used.

The resistive heating element particularly can be characterized inrelation to its carbonized condition. For example, the carbonizedsubstrate can have a specific porosity, such as a porosity of about 10%or greater. The carbonized substrate likewise can be characterized inrelation to the relative carbon content of the substrate, as alreadynoted above. In specific embodiments, the weight percent of carbon inthe carbonized substrate relative to the total weight of the carbonizedsubstrate can exceed the weight percent of carbon in the non-carbonizedsubstrate relative to the total weight of the non-carbonized substrate.For example, the weight percent of carbon in the carbonized substratecan exceed the weight percent of carbon in the non-carbonized substrateby about 10% or greater.

The aerosol precursor material used in the resistive heating element cancomprise any material that is volatilizable at the working temperaturesdiscussed herein so as to form an aerosol, vapor, or the like suitablefor inhalation by a consumer. The aerosol precursor material further cancomprise materials that are suitable for being entrained in an aerosolor vapor for inhalation along with the aerosol or vapor. In specificembodiments, a useful aerosol precursor material can be a polyhydricalcohol, such as glycerin, propylene glycol, and combinations thereof.The aerosol precursor material particularly can be combined with aninhalable substance. In other words, a separate material can be providedwith the aerosol precursor material on the substrate (either as amixture or as separate applications on the substrate). As such, theaerosol formed upon heating can include a content of the inhalablesubstance as a result of likewise being aerosolized or as beingsubstantially carried by the otherwise formed aerosol. In certainembodiments, the inhalable substance can comprise a medicament and, morespecifically, can comprise nicotine. In some embodiments, the inhalablesubstance can comprise a tobacco component or a tobacco-derivedmaterial. For example, the aerosol precursor material can be in a slurrywith tobacco, a tobacco component, or a tobacco-derived material. Stillfurther, the aerosol precursor material can be combined with aflavorant. The aerosol precursor material can be applied to thecarbonized substrate by any suitable means. In certain embodiments, theaerosol precursor material can be coated on, adsorbed by, or absorbed inthe carbonized substrate.

Further to the above, the resistive heating element can take on avariety of specific combinations of materials. For example, in certainembodiments, the resistive heating element can be formed of 1) asubstrate comprising: an electrically conductive material selected fromthe group consisting of graphite, metal particles, and combinationsthereof; milled carbon; tobacco; and at least one polysaccharide;wherein the substrate is carbonized; and 2) a polyhydric alcohol aerosolprecursor material associated with the carbonized substrate. Preferably,such resistive heating element has an electrical resistance of about 15ohms or less. As another example, the resistive heating element can beformed of 1) a substrate comprising: an electrically conductive materialselected from the group consisting of graphite, metal particles, andcombinations thereof; and at least one polysaccharide; wherein thesubstrate is carbonized; and 2) an aerosol precursor material associatedwith the carbonized substrate, the aerosol precursor material comprisinga polyhydric alcohol and an inhalable substance. Again, such resistiveheating element preferably has an electrical resistance of about 15 ohmsor less.

The resistive heating element can take on a variety of physical shapesand dimensions. In certain embodiments, the heating element can beelongated and can have a length of about 5 mm to about 40 mm. Moreparticularly, the heating element can be substantially rod shaped andcan, for example, have a mean diameter of about 0.5 mm to about 5 mm. Insome embodiments, the resistive heating element can be elongated andhave a non-uniform cross-sectional geometry. In alternate embodiments,the resistive heating element can be formed of an electricallyconductive material provided as a core that is substantially surroundedby a material formed of a carbonaceous additive. Similarly, theresistive heating element can be formed such that the electricallyconductive material is in the form of a sheath that substantiallysurrounds a core comprising at least one carbonaceous additive. In someembodiments, the substrate of the resistive heating element can becharacterized as being an extrudate. Alternately, the substrate can bein a non-extruded form. For example, the substrate can be substantiallypelletized or particulate. The substrate also can be in the form of asheet, which can particularly be a rolled sheet. The substrate furthercan be substantially chip-shaped in that it is flattened with a definedlength, width, and thickness (e.g., the thickness being less than one orboth of the width and thickness). The substrate also can besubstantially disc-shaped. In some embodiments, the conductive substratecan be provided in connection with a substrate support frame. Forexample, the substrate can be substantially suspended within the supportframe or the substrate can be deposited on the support frame. Inexemplary embodiments, the substrate support frame can have across-section that includes a linear portion (e.g., a straight line, anX-shape, a Y-shape, or the like). Moreover, the support frame caninclude a component that forms an electrical connection with a powersource.

As noted above, the resistive heating element is particularly useful asa component of a smoking article. As such, in another aspect, theinvention can provide smoking articles. In one embodiment, a smokingarticle according to the invention can generally comprise a resistiveheating element as otherwise described herein in electrical connectionwith an electrical power source. In particular embodiments, theresistive heating element and the electrical power source can beremovably connected. For example, the resistive heating element can behoused in a first shell that is removably attached to a second shellthat houses the electrical power source. Each shell can separatelyinclude further components for facilitating the electrical connection.

The electrical power source of the smoking article can encompass anypower source that provides sufficient electrical power to heat theresistive heating element to form an aerosol and can be, for example,selected from the group consisting of a battery, a capacitor, andcombinations thereof. The smoking article also can include any varietyof means for charging or recharging the electrical power source.

The smoking article further can comprise a control component thatactuates current flow from the electrical power source to the resistiveheating element. For example, such control component can comprise apuff-actuated sensor, a pushbutton, a capacitive sensor, or the like, orsome combination of such components. Likewise, the smoking article cancomprise a component that regulates a previously initiated current flowfrom the electrical power source to the resistive heating element. Forexample, the current regulating component can be a time-based component.In specific embodiments, the current regulating component can befunctional to stop current to the resistive heating element once adefined temperature has been achieved. In other embodiments, the currentregulating component can function to cycle the current to the resistiveheating element off and on once a defined temperature has been achievedso as to maintain the defined temperature for a defined period of time.More specifically, the current regulating component can cycle thecurrent to the resistive heating element off and on to maintain a firsttemperature that is below an aerosol forming temperature and allow anincreased current flow in response to a current actuation controlcomponent so as to achieve a second temperature that is greater than thefirst temperature and that is an aerosol forming temperature.

As exemplary embodiments, such first temperature can be about 50° C. toabout 110° C., and such second temperature can be about 120° C. to about300° C. In further embodiments, a smoking article according to theinvention can comprise a plurality of control components, including astand-alone control component, a control component integral with abattery, a control component integral with a sensor, or the like.

As already noted above, a smoking article according to the invention cancomprise a plurality of units that are engagable and disengagable fromone another. In certain embodiments, a smoking article thus can comprisea first unit that is engagable and disengagable with a second unit, thefirst unit comprising the resistive heating element, and the second unitcomprising the electrical power source. The second unit further cancomprise one or more control components that actuate or regulate currentflow from the electrical power source. Moreover, the first unit cancomprise a distal end that engages the second unit and an opposing,proximate end (i.e., a mouthend) with an opening at a proximate endthereof. Such first unit can include an optional mouthpiece that canattach to the mouthend and can be shaped as desired. Still further, thefirst unit can comprise an air flow path providing for passage ofaerosol formed from the resistive heating element out of the mouthend ofthe first unit. In specific embodiments, the first unit can bedisposable.

In further embodiments, the smoking article can be formed of a singleshell, which can optionally include a removable mouthend. In suchembodiments, a removable and replaceable resistive heating element canbe used and can be inserted and removed through the removable mouthend.In such embodiments, it can be useful for the resistive heating elementto include a substrate support frame.

In another aspect, the invention can provide a kit for accommodating asmoking article, or components thereof. In certain embodiments, a kitaccording to the invention can comprise a case that accommodates one ormore further kit components; one or more disposable units for use with areusable smoking article, the disposable unit comprising cartridge bodywith a distal end configured to engage a component of a reusable smokingarticle and an opposing, proximate end that includes a mouthpiece withan opening at a proximate end thereof, each of the one or moredisposable units comprising a resistive heating element as otherwisediscussed herein disposed within the cartridge body; and optionally oneor more components selected from the group consisting of a reusablecontrol unit, a battery, and a charging component. More specifically,the reusable control unit in a kit according to the invention cancomprise: a control housing including an engaging end for engaging thedistal end of the cartridge body of the disposable unit; an electricalpower source disposed within the control housing; and one or morecontrol components disposed within the control housing, the one or morecontrol components being configured to actuate or regulate current flowfrom the electrical power source.

In another aspect, the invention further provides methods of preparing aresistive heating element as disclosed herein, such resistive heatingelement particularly being configured for use in a smoking article. Incertain embodiments, a method of preparing a resistive heating elementcan comprise combining an electrically conductive material with at leastone carbonaceous additive to form an intermediate substrate, heating theintermediate substrate for a defined period of time at a temperature ofabout 200° C. or greater to form a carbonized substrate, and associatingan aerosol precursor material with the carbonized substrate to form theresistive heating element.

In particular embodiments, the step of combining the materials cancomprise mixing for a defined time, such as a time of about 5 minutes orgreater. Mixing also can comprise adding a liquid such that theintermediate substrate has a moisture content of about 15% or greater.

After combining the materials, the method also can comprise forming theintermediate substrate into a defined shape. For example, the formingstep can comprise extruding the intermediate substrate to form anextrudate. More generally, the forming step can comprise forming theintermediate substrate into an elongated form. The elongated substratethen can be processed into defined lengths, such as a length of about2.5 mm to about 60 mm. The forming step also can be characterized asforming the intermediate substrate into a form that is substantially asotherwise described herein in relation to the nature of the resistiveheating element itself. For example, the method can comprise any of thefollowing: forming the intermediate substrate into a form that iselongated and has a non-uniform cross-sectional geometry; forming thesubstrate into pellets; forming the substrate as a sheet; rolling aformed sheet; providing the electrically conductive material in the formof a core that is substantially surrounded by the at least onecarbonaceous additive; and providing the electrically conductivematerial in the form of a sheath that substantially surrounds a corecomprising the at least one carbonaceous additive.

Heating of the intermediate substrate can be carried out in any suitableapparatus, such as a vacuum oven or a muffle furnace. Heating—i.e.,calcining—at an increased temperature can be useful to improve theresistance of the material. It can be preferable for the calcinationtemperature to be about 200° C. to about 1,200° C., about 250° C. toabout 1,000° C., or about 300° C. to about 900° C. In some embodiments,it can be preferable for heating to be carried out in an inertatmosphere, such as under a nitrogen atmosphere.

Any useful method can be utilized to associate the aerosol precursormaterial with the carbonized substrate. For example, the associatingstep can comprise coating, adsorbing, or absorbing the aerosol precursormaterial on or in the carbonized substrate.

In some embodiments, a method of forming a resistive heating element caninclude attaching the resistive heating element to a support frame. Forexample, the resistive heating element can be substantially suspendedwithin the support frame, or the resistive heating element can bedeposited on a surface of the support frame.

In still another aspect, the invention encompasses methods of forming anaerosol. In certain embodiments, a method of forming an aerosol cancomprise placing a resistive heating element as otherwise describedherein into electrical connection with an electrical power source. Forexample, the electrical power source can be an electronic smokingarticle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Having thus described the invention in the foregoing general terms,reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are notnecessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an example embodiment of a smokingarticle according to the invention, wherein a portion of an outer shellof the article is cut away to reveal the interior components thereof;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an example embodiment of a smokingarticle according to the invention, wherein the article comprises acontrol body and a cartridge that are attachable and detachabletherefrom;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal cross-section of a smoking article according toan example embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4a is a cross-section along line 4 from FIG. 3 showing an exampleembodiment of means for positioning a resistive heating element within acartridge according to the invention;

FIG. 4b is a cross-section along line 4 from FIG. 3 showing analternative example embodiment of means for positioning a resistiveheating element within a cartridge according to the invention;

FIG. 5a through FIG. 5f are cross-sections of a cartridge illustratingexemplary embodiments of a single, unitary conductive substrate or aplurality of individual conductive substrates provided within thecartridge;

FIG. 5g is a perspective view of an example embodiment of a cartridgefor a smoking article according to the invention, wherein a portion ofan outer shell of the cartridge is cut away to reveal a plurality ofindividual conductive substrates serially arranged within the cartridge;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an example embodiment of a smokingarticle according to the invention, wherein the article comprises aplurality of permanent components therein and a cavity for receiving aremovable and replaceable conductive substrate;

FIG. 7a illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a conductive substratewithin a substrate support frame that facilitates insertion andwithdrawal of the conductive substrate into and from a smoking articleaccording to the invention;

FIG. 7b illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a plurality of conductivesubstrates within a substrate support frame that facilitates insertionand withdrawal of the conductive substrates into and from a smokingarticle according to the invention;

FIG. 7c is a cross-section of a smoking article according to anexemplary embodiment illustrating a combined conductive substrate andsubstrate support frame inserted into a cavity in the smoking article;

FIG. 7d illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a plurality of chipsconductive substrates positioned on a substrate support frame thatfacilitates insertion and withdrawal of the conductive substrate intoand from a smoking article according to the invention;

FIG. 7e is a cross-section of a smoking article according to anexemplary embodiment illustrating a combined conductive substrate andsubstrate support frame inserted into a cavity in the smoking article;

FIG. 7f is a partial perspective view of an example embodiment of asmoking article according to the invention having partially inserted ina cavity therein a combined conductive substrate and substrate supportframe according to an embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 7g is a cross-section of a smoking article according to anexemplary embodiment illustrating a combined conductive substrate andsubstrate support frame inserted into a cavity in the smoking article.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter withreference to exemplary embodiments thereof. These exemplary embodimentsare described so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, andwill fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in theart. Indeed, the invention may be embodied in many different forms andshould not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein;rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure willsatisfy applicable legal requirements. As used in the specification, andin the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an”, “the”, includeplural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

The present invention provides articles that use electrical energy toheat a material (preferably without combusting the material to anysignificant degree) to form an inhalable substance, the articles beingsufficiently compact to be considered “hand-held” devices. In certainembodiments, the articles can particularly be characterized as smokingarticles. As used herein, the term is intended to mean an article thatprovides the taste and/or the sensation (e.g., hand-feel or mouth-feel)of smoking a cigarette, cigar, or pipe without substantial combustion ofany component of the article. The term smoking article does notnecessarily indicate that, in operation, the article produces smoke inthe sense of the by-product of combustion or pyrolysis. Rather, smokingrelates to the physical action of an individual in using thearticle—e.g., holding the article, drawing on one end of the article,and inhaling from the article. In further embodiments, the inventivearticles can be characterized as being vapor-producing articles,aerosolization articles, or medicament delivery articles. Thus, thearticles can be arranged so as to provide one or more substances in aninhalable state. In other embodiments, the inhalable substance can besubstantially in the form of a vapor (i.e., a substance that is in thegas phase at a temperature lower than its critical point). In otherembodiments, the inhalable substance can be in the form of an aerosol(i.e., a suspension of fine solid particles or liquid droplets in agas). The physical form of the inhalable substance is not necessarilylimited by the nature of the inventive articles but rather may dependupon the nature of the medium and the inhalable substance itself as towhether it exists in a vapor state or an aerosol state. In someembodiments, the terms may be interchangeable. Thus, for simplicity, theterms as used to describe the invention are understood to beinterchangeable unless stated otherwise.

In one aspect, the present invention provides a smoking article. Thesmoking article generally can include a number of components providedwithin an elongated body, which can be a single, unitary shell or whichcan be formed of two or more separable pieces. For example, a smokingarticle according to one embodiment can comprise a shell (i.e., theelongated body) that can be substantially tubular in shape, such asresembling the shape of a conventional cigarette or cigar. Within theshell can reside all of the components of the smoking article. In otherembodiments, a smoking article can comprise two shells that are joinedand are separable. For example, a control body can comprise a shellcontaining one or more reusable components and having an end thatremovably attaches to a cartridge. The cartridge can comprise a shellcontaining one or more disposable components and having an end thatremovably attaches to the control body. More specific arrangements ofcomponents within the single shell or within the separable control bodyand cartridge are evident in light of the further disclosure providedherein.

Smoking articles useful according to the invention particularly cancomprise some combination of a power source (i.e., an electrical powersource), one or more control components (e.g., tocontrol/actuate/regulate flow of power from the power source to one ormore further components of the article), a heater component, and anaerosol generating component. The smoking article further can include adefined air flow path through the article such that aerosol generated bythe article can be withdrawn therefrom by a user drawing on the article.Alignment of the components within the article can vary. In specificembodiments, the aerosol generating component can be located near an endof the article that is proximal to the mouth of a user so as to maximizeaerosol delivery to the user. Other configurations, however, are notexcluded. Generally, the heater component can be positioned sufficientlynear that aerosol generating component so that heat from the heatercomponent can volatilize an aerosol precursor material carried by theaerosol generating material (as well as one or more flavorants,medicaments, or the like that may likewise be provided for delivery to auser) and form an aerosol for delivery to the user. When the heatingmember heats the aerosol generating component, an aerosol (alone orincluding a further inhalable substance) is formed, released, orgenerated in a physical form suitable for inhalation by a consumer. Itshould be noted that the foregoing terms are meant to be interchangeablesuch that reference to release, releasing, releases, or releasedincludes form or generate, forming or generating, forms or generates,and formed or generated. Specifically, an inhalable substance isreleased in the form of a vapor or aerosol or mixture thereof.

A smoking article according to the invention generally can include anelectrical power source (or electrical power source) to provide currentflow sufficient to provide various functionalities to the article, suchas resistive heating, powering of indicators, and the like. The powersource for the inventive smoking article can take on variousembodiments. Preferably, the power source is able to deliver sufficientpower to rapidly heat the heating member to provide for aerosolformation and power the article through use for the desired duration oftime. The power source preferably is sized to fit conveniently withinthe article. Examples of useful power sources include lithium ionbatteries that preferably are rechargeable (e.g., a rechargeablelithium-manganese dioxide battery). In particular, lithium polymerbatteries can be used as such batteries can provide increased safety.Other types of batteries—e.g., N50-AAA CADNICA nickel-cadmium cells—mayalso be used. Even further examples of batteries that can be usedaccording to the invention are described in US Pub. App. No.2010/0028766, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety. Thin film batteries may be used in certainembodiments of the invention. Any of these batteries or combinationsthereof can be used in the power source, but rechargeable batteries arepreferred because of cost and disposal considerations associated withdisposable batteries. In embodiments wherein disposable batteries areprovided, smoking article can include access for removal and replacementof the battery. Alternatively, in embodiments where rechargeablebatteries are used, the smoking article can comprise charging contacts,for interaction with corresponding contacts in a conventional rechargingunit deriving power from a standard 120-volt AC wall outlet, or othersources such as an automobile electrical system or a separate portablepower supply, including USB connections. Means for recharging thebattery can be provided in a portable charging case that can include,for example, a relatively larger battery unit that can provide multiplecharges for the relatively smaller batteries present in the smokingarticle. The article further can include components for providing anon-contact inductive recharging system such that the article can becharged without being physically connected to an external power source.Thus, the article can include components to facilitate transfer ofenergy from an electromagnetic field to the rechargeable battery withinthe article.

In further embodiments, the power source also can comprise a capacitor.Capacitors are capable of discharging more quickly than batteries andcan be charged between puffs, allowing the battery to discharge into thecapacitor at a lower rate than if it were used to power the heatingmember directly. For example, a supercapacitor—i.e., an electricdouble-layer capacitor (EDLC)—may be used separate from or incombination with a battery. When used alone, the supercapacitor may berecharged before each use of the article. Thus, the invention also mayinclude a charger component that can be attached to the smoking articlebetween uses to replenish the supercapacitor.

The smoking article can further include a variety of power managementsoftware, hardware, and/or other electronic control components. Forexample, such software, hardware, and/or electronic controls can includecarrying out charging of the battery, detecting the battery chargestatus, performing power save operations, preventing unintentional orover-discharge of the battery, or the like.

A “controller” or “control component” according to the present inventioncan encompass a variety of elements useful in the present smokingarticle. Moreover, a smoking article according to the invention caninclude one, two, or even more control components that can be combinedinto a unitary element or that can be present at separate locationswithin the smoking article, and individual control components can beutilized for carrying out different control aspects. For example, asmoking article can include a control component that is integral to orotherwise combined with a battery so as to control power discharge fromthe battery. The smoking article separately can include a controlcomponent that controls other aspects of the article. Alternatively, asingle controller may be provided that carries out multiple controlaspects or all control aspects of the article. Likewise, a sensor (e.g.,a puff sensor) used in the article can include a control component thatcontrols the actuation of power discharge from the power source inresponse to a stimulus. The smoking article separately can include acontrol component that controls other aspects of the article.Alternatively, a single controller may be provided in or otherwiseassociated with the sensor for carrying out multiple control aspects orall control aspects of the article. Thus, it can be seen that a varietyof combinations of controllers may be combined in the present smokingarticle to provide the desired level of control of all aspects of thedevice.

The smoking article also can comprise one or more controller componentsuseful for controlling flow of electrical energy from the power sourceto further components of the article, such as to a resistive heatingelement. Specifically, the article can comprise a control component thatactuates current flow from the power source, such as to the resistiveheating element. For example, in some embodiments, the article caninclude a pushbutton that can be linked to a control circuit for manualcontrol of power flow. For example, a consumer can use the pushbutton toturn on the article and/or to actuate current flow into the resistiveheating element. Multiple buttons can be provided for manual performanceof powering the article on and off, and for activating heating foraerosol generation. One or more pushbuttons present can be substantiallyflush with an outer surface of the smoking article.

Instead of (or in addition to) the pushbutton, the inventive article caninclude one or more control components responsive to the consumer'sdrawing on the article (i.e., puff-actuated heating). For example, thearticle may include a switch that is sensitive either to pressurechanges or air flow changes as the consumer draws on the article (i.e.,a puff-actuated switch). Other suitable current actuation/deactuationmechanisms may include a temperature actuated on/off switch or a lippressure actuated switch. An exemplary mechanism that can provide suchpuff-actuation capability includes a Model 163PC01D36 silicon sensor,manufactured by the MicroSwitch division of Honeywell, Inc., Freeport,Ill. With such sensor, the resistive heating element can be activatedrapidly by a change in pressure when the consumer draws on the article.In addition, flow sensing devices, such as those using hot-wireanemometry principles, may be used to cause the energizing of theresistive heating element sufficiently rapidly after sensing a change inair flow. A further puff actuated switch that may be used is a pressuredifferential switch, such as Model No. MPL-502-V, range A, from MicroPneumatic Logic, Inc., Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Another suitable puffactuated mechanism is a sensitive pressure transducer (e.g., equippedwith an amplifier or gain stage) which is in turn coupled with acomparator for detecting a predetermined threshold pressure. Yet anothersuitable puff actuated mechanism is a vane which is deflected byairflow, the motion of which vane is detected by a movement sensingmeans. Yet another suitable actuation mechanism is a piezoelectricswitch. Also useful is a suitably connected Honeywell MicroSwitchMicrobridge Airflow Sensor, Part No. AWM 2100V from MicroSwitch Divisionof Honeywell, Inc., Freeport, Ill. Further examples of demand-operatedelectrical switches that may be employed in a heating circuit accordingto the present invention are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,735,217 toGerth et al., which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.Other suitable differential switches, analog pressure sensors, flow ratesensors, or the like, will be apparent to the skilled artisan with theknowledge of the present disclosure. A pressure-sensing tube or otherpassage providing fluid connection between the puff actuated switch andan air flow passage within the smoking article can be included so thatpressure changes during draw are readily identified by the switch.

Capacitive sensing components in particular can be incorporated into thedevice in a variety of manners to allow for diverse types of “power-up”and/or “power-down” for one or more components of the device. Capacitivesensing can include the use of any sensor incorporating technology basedon capacitive coupling including, but not limited to, sensors thatdetect and/or measure proximity, position or displacement, humidity,fluid level, pressure, or acceleration. Capacitive sensing can arisefrom electronic components providing for surface capacitance, projectedcapacitance, mutual capacitance, or self capacitance. Capacitive sensorsgenerally can detect anything that is conductive or has a dielectricdifferent than that of air. Capacitive sensors, for example, can replacemechanical buttons with capacitive alternatives. Thus, one specificapplication of capacitive sensing according to the invention is a touchcapacitive sensor. For example, a touch pad can be present on thesmoking article that allows the user to input a variety of commands.Most basically, the touch pad can provide for powering the heatingelement much in the same manner as a push button, as already describedabove. In other embodiments, capacitive sensing can be applied near themouthend of the smoking article such that the pressure of the lips onthe smoking article to draw on the article can signal the device toprovide power to the heating element. In addition to touch capacitancesensors, motion capacitance sensors, liquid capacitance sensors, andaccelerometers can be utilized according to the invention to illicit avariety of response from the smoking article. Further, photoelectricsensors also can be incorporated into the inventive smoking article.

Sensors utilized in the present articles can expressly signal for powerflow to the heating element so as to heat the substrate including theaerosol precursor material and form a vapor or aerosol for inhalation bya user. Sensors also can provide further functions. For example, a“wake-up” sensor can be included. In particular embodiments, a smokingarticle can be packaged in a “sleep” mode such that power from the powersource cannot be delivered to the heating element (or other componentsof the article if desired). The smoking article can include a sensor,such as a photoelectric sensor or a pull-tab activated sensor or even acapacitive sensor, such that after the smoking article is unpackaged,activation of the sensor moves the article from the sleep mode to aworking mode wherein the article can be used as otherwise describedherein. For example, the smoking article may be packaged such that lightis substantially prevented from reaching the smoking article. Aphotoelectric sensor on the article then would function to detect whenthe article is removed from the packaging—i.e., is subject to ambientlighting—and transition the article from the sleep mode to a workingmode. Likewise, the sensor can function such that when the article isagain protected from ambient lighting—e.g., placed in a carrying case orstorage case—the article reverts to the sleep mode as a safety measure.Other sensing methods providing similar function likewise can beutilized according to the invention.

When the consumer draws on the mouth end of the smoking article, thecurrent actuation means can permit unrestricted or uninterrupted flow ofcurrent through the resistive heating member to generate heat rapidly.Because of the rapid heating, it can be useful to include currentregulating components to (i) regulate current flow through the heatingmember to control heating of the resistive element and the temperatureexperienced thereby, and (ii) prevent overheating and degradation of thesubstrate or other component carrying the aerosol precursor materialand/or other flavors or inhalable materials.

The current regulating circuit particularly may be time based.Specifically, such a circuit includes a means for permittinguninterrupted current flow through the heating element for an initialtime period during draw, and a timer means for subsequently regulatingcurrent flow until draw is completed. For example, the subsequentregulation can include the rapid on-off switching of current flow (e.g.,on the order of about every 1 to 50 milliseconds) to maintain theheating element within the desired temperature range. Further,regulation may comprise simply allowing uninterrupted current flow untilthe desired temperature is achieved then turning off the current flowcompletely. The heating member may be reactivated by the consumerinitiating another puff on the article (or manually actuating thepushbutton, depending upon the specific switch embodiment employed foractivating the heater). Alternatively, the subsequent regulation caninvolve the modulation of current flow through the heating element tomaintain the heating element within a desired temperature range. In someembodiments, so as to release the desired dosing of the inhalablesubstance, the heating member may be energized for a duration of about0.2 second to about 5.0 seconds, about 0.3 second to about 4.5 seconds,about 0.5 second to about 4.0 seconds, about 0.5 second to about 3.5seconds, or about 0.6 second to about 3.0 seconds. One exemplarytime-based current regulating circuit can include a transistor, a timer,a comparator, and a capacitor. Suitable transistors, timers,comparators, and capacitors are commercially available and will beapparent to the skilled artisan. Exemplary timers are those availablefrom NEC Electronics as C-1555C and from General Electric Intersil, Inc.as ICM7555, as well as various other sizes and configurations ofso-called “555 Timers”. An exemplary comparator is available fromNational Semiconductor as LM311. Further description of such time-basedcurrent regulating circuits and other control components that can beuseful in the present smoking article are provided in U.S. Pat. Nos.4,922,901, 4,947,874, and 4,947,875, all to Brooks et al., all of whichare incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. The controlcomponents particularly can be configured to closely control the amountof heat provided to the resistive heating element. In some embodiments,the current regulating component can function to stop current flow tothe resistive heating element once a defined temperature has beenachieved. Such defined temperature can be in a range that issubstantially high enough to volatilize the aerosol precursor materialand any further inhalable substances and provide an amount of aerosolequivalent to a typical puff on a conventional cigarette, as otherwisediscussed herein. While the heat needed to volatilize the aerosolprecursor material in a sufficient volume to provide a desired volumefor a single puff can vary, it can be particularly useful for theheating member to heat to a temperature of about 120° C. or greater,about 130° C. or greater, about 140° C. or greater, or about 160° C. Insome embodiments, in order to volatilize an appropriate amount of theaerosol precursor material, the heating temperature may be about 180° C.or greater, about 200° C. or greater, about 300° C. or greater, or about350° C. or greater. In further embodiments, the defined temperature foraerosol formation can be about 120° C. to about 350° C., about 140° C.to about 300° C., or about 150° C. to about 250° C. It can beparticularly desirable, however, to avoid heating to temperaturessubstantially in excess of about 550° C. in order to avoid degradationand/or excessive, premature volatilization of the aerosol precursormaterial and/or other construction materials. Heating specificallyshould be at a sufficiently low temperature and for a sufficiently shorttime so as to avoid degradation and/or significant combustion(preferably any combustion) of the substrate or other component of thearticle. The duration of heating can be controlled by a number offactors, as discussed in greater detail hereinbelow. Heating temperatureand duration may depend upon the desired volume of aerosol and ambientair that is desired to be drawn through the article. The duration,however, may be varied depending upon the heating rate of the resistiveheating element, as the article may be configured such that theresistive heating element is energized only until a desired temperatureis reached. Alternatively, duration of heating may be coupled to theduration of a puff on the article by a consumer. Generally, thetemperature and time of heating will be controlled by one or morecomponents contained in the control housing, as noted above.

The current regulating component likewise can cycle the current to theresistive heating element off and on once a defined temperature has beenachieved so as to maintain the defined temperature for a defined periodof time. Such rapid on-off cycling can be as already discussed above,and the defined temperature can be an aerosol generating temperature asnoted above.

Still further, the current regulating component can cycle the current tothe resistive heating element off and on to maintain a first temperaturethat is below an aerosol forming temperature and then allow an increasedcurrent flow in response to a current actuation control component so asto achieve a second temperature that is greater than the firsttemperature and that is an aerosol forming temperature. Such controllingcan improve the response time of the article for aerosol formation suchthat aerosol formation begins almost instantaneously upon initiation ofa puff by a consumer. In some embodiments, the first temperature (whichcan be characterized as a standby temperature) can be only slightly lessthan the aerosol forming temperature defined above. Specifically, thestandby temperature can be about 50° C. to about 150° C., about 70° C.to about 140° C., about 80° C. to about 120° C., or about 90° C. toabout 110° C.

In light of the foregoing, it can be seen that a variety of mechanismscan be employed to facilitate actuation/deactuation of current to theresistive heating element and to other components of the smokingarticle. Specifically the article can comprise a component thatregulates a previously initiated current flow from the electrical powersource to the resistive heating element. For example, the inventivearticle can comprise a timer (i.e., a time-based component) forregulating current flow in the article (such as during draw by aconsumer). The article further can comprise a timer responsive switchthat enables and disables current flow to the resistive heating element.Current flow regulation also can comprise use of a capacitor andcomponents for charging and discharging the capacitor at a defined rate(e.g., a rate that approximates a rate at which the heating member heatsand cools). Current flow specifically may be regulated such that thereis uninterrupted current flow through the heating member for an initialtime period during draw, but the current flow may be turned off orcycled alternately off and on after the initial time period until drawis completed. Such cycling may be controlled by a timer, as discussedabove, which can generate a preset switching cycle. In specificembodiments, the timer may generate a periodic digital wave form. Theflow during the initial time period further may be regulated by use of acomparator that compares a first voltage at a first input to a thresholdvoltage at a threshold input and generates an output signal when thefirst voltage is equal to the threshold voltage, which enables thetimer. Such embodiments further can include components for generatingthe threshold voltage at the threshold input and components forgenerating the threshold voltage at the first input upon passage of theinitial time period.

In addition to the above control elements, the smoking article also maycomprise one or more indicators. Such indicators may be lights (e.g.,light emitting diodes) that can provide indication of multiple aspectsof use of the inventive article. For example, a series of lights maycorrespond to the number of puffs for a given cartridge of the smokingarticle. Specifically, the lights may become lit with each puffindicating to a consumer that the cartridge was completely used when alllights were lit. Alternatively, all lights may be lit upon the initialloading of the cartridge, and a light may turn off with each puffindicating to a consumer that the cartridge was completely used when alllights were off. In still other embodiments, only a single indicator maybe present, and lighting thereof can indicate that current is flowing tothe resistive heating element and the article is actively heating. Thismay ensure that a consumer does not unknowingly leave an articleunattended in an actively heating mode. Still further, one or moreindicators can be provided as an indicator of battery status—e.g.,battery charge, low battery, battery charging, or the like. Although theindicators are described above in relation to visual indicators in anon/off method, other indices of operation also are encompassed. Forexample, visual indicators also may include changes in light color orintensity to show progression of the smoking experience. Tactileindicators and sound indicators similarly are encompassed by theinvention. Moreover, combinations of such indicators also may be used ina single article.

A smoking article according to the invention further can comprise anaerosol forming component and a heating member that heats the aerosolforming component to produce an aerosol for inhalation by a user. Thepresent invention particularly can be characterized in relation to theprovision of a heating member and an aerosol forming component that areintegrally formed into a single resistive heating element. Inparticular, the invention can provide a resistive heating elementcomprising a substrate including an electrically conductive material andat least one carbonaceous additive, and also including an aerosolprecursor material associated with the substrate. More particularly, thesubstrate is carbonized. Preferably, the resistive heating elementexhibits an electrical resistance below a defined value, as otherwisedescribed herein, thus making the resistive heating element useful forproviding a sufficient quantity of heat when electrical current flowstherethrough.

Electrically conductive materials useful as resistive heating elementscan be those having low mass, low density, and moderate resistivity andthat are thermally stable at the temperatures experienced during use.Useful heating elements heat and cool rapidly, and thus provide for theefficient use of energy. Rapid heating of the element can be beneficialto provide almost immediate volatilization of an aerosol precursormaterial in proximity thereto. Rapid cooling prevents substantialvolatilization (and hence waste) of the aerosol precursor materialduring periods when aerosol formation is not desired. Such heatingelements also permit relatively precise control of the temperature rangeexperienced by the aerosol precursor material, especially when timebased current control is employed. Useful electrically conductivematerials preferably are chemically non-reactive with the materialsbeing heated (e.g., aerosol precursor materials and other inhalablesubstance materials) so as not to adversely affect the flavor or contentof the aerosol or vapor that is produced. Exemplary, non-limiting,materials that can be used as the electrically conductive materialinclude carbon, graphite, carbon/graphite composites, metals, metallicand non-metallic carbides, nitrides, silicides, inter-metalliccompounds, cermets, metal alloys, and metal foils. In particular,refractory materials may be useful. Various, different materials can bemixed to achieve the desired properties of resistivity, mass, andthermal conductivity. In specific embodiments, metals that can beutilized include, for example, nickel, chromium, alloys of nickel andchromium (e.g., nichrome), and steel. Materials that can be useful forproviding resistive heating are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,671 toCounts et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,093,894 to Deevi et al.; 5,224,498 toDeevi et al.; 5,228,460 to Sprinkel Jr., et al.; 5,322,075 to Deevi etal.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,813 to Deevi et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,468,936 toDeevi et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,498,850 to Das; U.S. Pat. No. 5,659,656 toDas; U.S. Pat. No. 5,498,855 to Deevi et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,530,225 toHajaligol; U.S. Pat. No. 5,665,262 to Hajaligol; U.S. Pat. No. 5,573,692to Das et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,591,368 to Fleischhauer et al., thedisclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties. More generally, the electrically conductive material can becharacterized in relation to its electrical conductivity (or specificconductance), which is the reciprocal of the material's electricalresistivity (or specific resistance). Electrical conductivity can bequantified in units of mho/meter (i.e., the reciprocal of theresistivity in ohms) or Siemens/meter as represented by the symbol sigma(σ). Specifically, a useful electrically conductive material can have anelectrical conductivity on the order of 10¹ σ or greater, 10² σ orgreater, or 10³ σ or greater. For example, graphite has an electricalconductivity of about 3×10² to about 3×10⁵ σ depending upon its basalplane.

The present invention particularly can be characterized in that aresistive heating element can comprise a substrate formed of two or moreintegral components. In particular, the substrate can comprise anelectrically conductive material, such as discussed above, incombination with one or more substrate additives. As more fullydiscussed below, such substrate additives can comprise materials usefulfor providing inhalable components to be delivered to a user by thesmoking article, materials useful for providing bulk, binding, or otherspecific properties to the substrate, and materials useful forfacilitating aerosol formation. Thus, the substrate can be substantiallya solid mass comprising the electrically conductive material. Theelectrically conductive material thus preferably may be present in aform that facilitates combination with one or more further materials toform the substrate.

In specific embodiments, the electrically conductive material can be ina particulate form. For example, the electrically conductive materialcan have an average particle size of up to about 2 mm, up to about 1 mm,up to about 750 μm, up to about 500 μm. In other embodiments, theparticles can have an average size of about 1 nm to about 2 mm, about 50nm to about 1.5 mm, about 0.1 μm to about 1 mm, about 0.5 μm to about500 μm, or about 1 μm to about 100 μm. In further embodiments, theelectrically conductive material can be substantially rod shapedparticles. For example, the electrically conductive rod-shaped particlescan have a diameter of up to about 1 mm, up to about 750 μm, up to about500 μm, or up to about 250 μm. Further, the rods can have a diameter ofabout 0.1 μm to about 1 mm, about 0.25 μm to about 500 μm, about 0.5 μmto about 250 μm, or about 1 μm to about 100 μm. Electrically conductiverod-shaped particles can have a length of up to about 10 mm, up to about5 mm, up to about 2 mm, up to about 1 mm, or up to about 750 μm.Further, the rod-shaped particles can have a length of about 0.5 μm toabout 10 mm, about 1 μm to about 5 mm, about 2 μm to about 1 mm, orabout 5 μm to about 500 μm. The electrically conductive material furthercan be provided in additional forms, such as in the form of a foil, afoam, discs, spirals, fibers, wires, films, yarns, strips, ribbons, orcylinders, as well as irregular shapes of varying dimensions.

In addition to the electrically conductive material, the substratecomponent of the resistive heating element can comprise at least onecarbonaceous additive. The carbonaceous additive can provide multipleadvantages. Specifically, as further discussed below, the carbonaceousadditive can function as a lattice former in that the additive can bealtered through specific processing steps to remove non-carboncomponents of the material and leave behind a carbon lattice, carbonskeleton, or carbon backbone type structure. In some embodiments, thecarbonaceous additive can be a milled carbon.

In certain embodiments, the carbonaceous material used in the substratecan be tobacco, a tobacco component, or a tobacco-derived material(i.e., a material that is found naturally in tobacco that may beisolated directly from the tobacco or synthetically prepared). Thetobacco that is employed can include, or can be derived from, tobaccossuch as flue-cured tobacco, burley tobacco, Oriental tobacco, Marylandtobacco, dark tobacco, dark-fired tobacco and Rustica tobacco, as wellas other rare or specialty tobaccos, or blends thereof. Variousrepresentative tobacco types, processed types of tobaccos, and types oftobacco blends are set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,224 to Lawson etal.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,924,888 to Perfetti et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,537to Brown et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,159,942 to Brinkley et al.; U.S. Pat.No. 5,220,930 to Gentry; U.S. Pat. No. 5,360,023 to Blakley et al.; U.S.Pat. No. 6,701,936 to Shafer et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,730,832 toDominguez et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,011,096 to Li et al.; U.S. Pat. No.7,017,585 to Li et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 7,025,066 to Lawson et al.; USPat. App. Pub. No. 2004/0255965 to Perfetti et al.; PCT Pub. WO 02/37990to Bereman; and Bombick et al., Fund. Appl. Toxicol., 39, p. 11-17(1997); the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties. Descriptions of various types of tobaccos, growingpractices, harvesting practices, and curing practices are set forth inTobacco Production, Chemistry and Technology, Davis et al. (Eds.)(1999). Most preferably, the tobacco that is employed has beenappropriately cured and aged. Especially preferred techniques andconditions for curing flue-cured tobacco are set forth in Nestor et al.,Beitrage Tabakforsch. Int., (2003) 467-475 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,895,974to Peele, which are incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties. Representative techniques and conditions for air curingtobacco are set forth in Roton et al., Beitrage Tabakforsch. Int., 21(2005) 305-320 and Staaf et al., Beitrage Tabakforsch. Int., 21 (2005)321-330, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

The tobacco that is incorporated within the smoking article can beemployed in various forms; and combinations of various forms of tobaccocan be employed, or different forms of tobacco can be employed atdifferent locations within the smoking article. For example, the tobaccocan be employed in the form of cut or shredded pieces of lamina or stem;in a processed form (e.g., reconstituted tobacco sheet, such as piecesof reconstituted tobacco sheet shredded into a cut filer form; filmsincorporating tobacco components; extruded tobacco parts or pieces;expanded tobacco lamina, such as cut filler that has been volumeexpanded; pieces of processed tobacco stems comparable to cut filler insize and general appearance; granulated tobacco; foamed tobaccomaterials; compressed or pelletized tobacco; or the like); as pieces offinely divided tobacco (e.g., tobacco dust, tobacco powder, agglomeratedtobacco powders, or the like); or in the form of a tobacco extract. See,for example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,647,932 to Cantrell et al. and US Pat. Pub.No. 2007/0215167 to Crooks et al., the disclosures of which areincorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

The smoking article can employ tobacco in the form of lamina and/orstem. As such, the tobacco can be used in forms, and in manners, thatare virtually identical in many regards to those traditionally used forthe manufacture of tobacco products, such as cigarettes. Traditionally,cut or shredded pieces of tobacco lamina and stem have been employed asso-called “cut filler” for cigarette manufacture. Pieces of waterextracted stems also can be employed. As such, the tobacco in such aform introduces mass and bulk within the smoking article. Manners andmethods for curing, de-stemming, aging, moistening, cutting, reorderingand handling tobacco that is employed as cut filler will be apparent tothose skilled in the art of tobacco product manufacture.

Processed tobaccos that can be incorporated within the smoking articlecan vary. Exemplary manners and methods for providing reconstitutedtobacco sheet, including casting and paper-making techniques, are setforth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,674,519 to Keritsis et al.; U.S. Pat. No.4,941,484 to Clapp et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,987,906 to Young et al.; U.Pat. No. 4,972,854 to Kiernan et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,099,864 to Younget al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,143,097 to Sohn et al.; US Pat. No. 5,159,942 toBrinkley et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,322,076 to Brinkley et al.; U.S. Pat.No. 5,339,838 to Young et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,698 to Litzinger etal.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,501,237 to Young; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,216,706 toKumar; the disclosures of which is incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties. Exemplary manners and methods for providing extrudedforms of processed tobaccos are set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,749 toToft et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,880,018 to Graves, Jr. et al.; U.S. Pat.No. 5,072,744 to Luke et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,874,000 to Tamol et al.;U.S. Pat. No. 5,551,450 to Hemsley; U.S. Pat. No. 5,649,552 to Cho etal.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,829,453 to White; U.S. Pat. No. 6,125,855 to Nevettet al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,182,670 to White; the disclosures of whichare incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. Extrudedtobacco materials can have the forms of cylinders, strands, discs, orthe like. Exemplary expanded tobaccos (e.g., puffed tobaccos) can beprovided using the types of techniques set forth in US Pat. No. Re32,013 to de la Burde et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,771,533 to Armstrong etal.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,577,646 to Ziehn; U.S. Pat. No. 4,962,773 to White;U.S. Pat. No. 5,095,922 to Johnson et al.; US Pat. No. 5,143,096 toSteinberg; U.S. Pat. No. 5,172,707 to Zambelli; U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,588to Brown et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,687,748 to Conrad; U.S. Pat. No.5,908,032 to Poindexter; and US Pat. Pub. 2004/0182404 to Poindexter etal.; the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties. One particularly preferred type of expanded tobacco isdry ice expanded tobacco (DIET). Exemplary forms of processed tobaccostems include cut-rolled stems, cut-rolled-expanded stems, cut-puffedstems and shredded-steam expanded stems. Exemplary manners and methodsfor providing processed tobacco stems are set forth in U.S. Pat. No.4,195,646 to Kite and U.S. Pat. No. 5,873,372 to Honeycutt et al., thedisclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties. Manners and methods for employing tobacco dust are set forthin U.S. Pat. No. 4,341,228 to Keritsis et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,611,608to Vos et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,692 to Gellatly; and U.S. Pat. No.5,724,998 to Gellatly et al.; the disclosures of which are incorporatedherein by reference in their entireties. Yet other types of processedtobaccos are of the type set forth in US Pat. Pub. No. 2006/0162733 toMcGrath et al., the disclosure of which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

The tobacco can be used in a blended form. Typically, the blends ofvarious types and forms of tobaccos are provided in a blended cut fillerform. For example, certain popular tobacco blends for cigarettemanufacture, commonly referred to as “American blends,” comprisemixtures of cut or shredded pieces of flue-cured tobacco, burley tobaccoand Oriental tobacco; and such blends, in many cases, also containpieces of processed tobaccos, such as processed tobacco stems, volumeexpanded tobaccos and/or reconstituted tobaccos. The precise amount ofeach type or form of tobacco within a tobacco blend used for themanufacture of a particular smoking article can vary, and is a manner ofdesign choice, depending upon factors such as the sensorycharacteristics (e.g., flavor and aroma) that are desired. See, forexample, the types of tobacco blends described in Tobacco Encyclopedia,Voges (Ed.) p. 44-45 (1984), Browne, The Design of Cigarettes, 3.sup.rdEd., p. 43 (1990) and Tobacco Production, Chemistry and Technology,Davis et al. (Eds.) p. 346 (1999). See, also, the representative typesof tobacco blends set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,224 to Lawson et al.;U.S. Pat. No. 4,924,888 to Perfetti et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,537 toBrown et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,220,930 to Gentry; US Pat. App. Pub. No.2004/0255965 to Perfetti et al.; US Pat. App. Pub. No. 2005/0066986 toNestor et al.; PCT Pub. No. WO 02/37990 to Bereman; and Bombick et al.,Fund. Appl. Toxicol., 39, p. 11-17 (1997); the disclosures of which areincorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

The tobacco can be treated with tobacco additives of the type that aretraditionally used for the manufacture of tobacco products. Thoseadditives can include the types of materials used to enhance the flavorand aroma of tobaccos used for the production of cigars, cigarettes,pipes, and the like. For example, those additives can include variouscigarette casing and/or top dressing components. See, for example, U.S.Pat. No. 3,419,015 to Wochnowski; U.S. Pat. No. 4,054,145 to Berndt etal.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,619 to Burcham, Jr. et al.; U.S. Pat. No.5,022,416 to Watson; U.S. Pat. No. 5,103,842 to Strang et al.; and U.S.Pat. No. 5,711,320 to Martin; the disclosures of which are incorporatedherein by reference in their entireties. Preferred casing materialsinclude water, sugars and syrups (e.g., sucrose, glucose and highfructose corn syrup), humectants (e.g. glycerin or propylene glycol),and flavoring agents (e.g., cocoa and licorice). Those added componentsalso include top dressing materials (e.g., flavoring materials, such asmenthol). See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,449,541 to Mays et al., thedisclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.Additives also can be added to the tobacco using the types of equipmentdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,995,405 to Lettau, which is incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety, or that are available as MentholApplication System MAS from Kohl Maschinenbau GmbH. The selection ofparticular casing and top dressing components is dependent upon factorssuch as the sensory characteristics that are desired, and the selectionand use of those components will be readily apparent to those skilled inthe art of cigarette design and manufacture. See, Gutcho, TobaccoFlavoring Substances and Methods, Noyes Data Corp. (1972) andLeffingwell et al., Tobacco Flavoring for Smoking Products (1972), thedisclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties. Further materials that can be added include those disclosedin U.S. Pat. No. 4,830,028 to Lawson et al. and US Pat. Pub. No.2008/0245377 to Marshall et al., the disclosures of which areincorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Various manners and methods for incorporating tobacco into smokingarticles, and particularly smoking articles that are designed so as tonot purposefully burn virtually all of the tobacco within those smokingarticles, are set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,947,874 to Brooks et al.;U.S. Pat. No. 7,647,932 to Cantrell et al., US Pat. App. Pub. No.2005/0016549 to Banerjee et al.; and US Pat. App. Pub. No. 2007/0215167to Crooks et al.; the disclosures of which are incorporated herein byreference in their entireties. In addition, tobacco has beenincorporated with cigarettes that have been marketed commercially underthe brand names “Premier” and “Eclipse” by R. J. Reynolds TobaccoCompany. See, for example, those types of cigarettes described inChemical and Biological Studies on New Cigarette Prototypes that HeatInstead of Burn Tobacco, R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company Monograph (1988)and Inhalation Toxicology, 12:5, p. 1-58 (2000). Tobacco also has beenincorporated within a smoking article that has been marketedcommercially by Philip Morris Inc. under the brand name “Accord.”

In further embodiments, the carbonaceous material of the substrate cancomprise one or more materials that can be characterized as a tobaccosubstitute or a tobacco extender. Such materials simultaneously oralternately can function as a binder for the substrate. Specifically, abinder can be any material useful to maintain the substrate componentsas a cohesive mass. In particular embodiments, the binder can beorganic, such as a polysaccharide or a derivative thereof. Morespecifically, the binder can be a gum, cellulose, or a cellulosederivative. Non-limiting examples of useful gums include natural gums,gum anima, gum arabic, cassia gum, dammar gum, gellan gum, guar gum,kauri gum, locust bean gum, spruce gum, welan gum, and xanthan gum.Non-limiting examples of celluloses and derivatives thereof that can beused include cellulose esters (e.g., cellulose acetate, cellulosetriacetate, cellulose propionate, cellulose acetate propionate,cellulose acetate butyrate, nitrocellulose, and cellulose sulfate) andcellulose ethers (e.g., methylcellulose, ethylcellulose, ethyl methylcellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl cellulose, hydroxyethylmethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose, ethyl hydroxyethylcellulose, and carboxymethyl cellulose). Still further examples ofuseful binders include alginates, such as sodium alginate and ammoniumalginate, agar, carrageenan, konj ac, pectin, and gelatin. Usefulbinders according to the invention can also be formed of inorganicmaterials. Exemplary, inorganic materials that can be used includesilicates (e.g., sodium silicate), silicas (e.g., colloidal silica),aluminas (e.g., colloidal alumina), silicone resin, and ceramicmaterials.

Fillers that may be used include calcium carbonate, aluminas, silicas,grains, and wood pulp. Exemplary types of tobacco substitutes orextenders that can be used in the substrate of the present invention areset forth in US Pat. App. Pub. No. 2008/0017203 to Fagg et al., which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

One or more carbonaceous additives used in the substrate can comprise anaerosol precursor. For example, tobacco containing nicotine may be used.Thus, the inhalable substance can be a tobacco component. In someembodiments, it can be preferable to apply aerosol precursors to thesubstrate after it has been carbonized, as discussed below. The use ofraw materials in the substrate containing inhalable substances prior tocarbonization, however, is not necessarily excluded.

The substrate component of the resistive heating element (i.e.,including the electrically conductive material and the carbonaceousmaterial) is carbonized for use in the smoking article of the invention.As used herein, the term carbonized is understood as meaning that thecarbonized substrate has a greater percentage of carbon by weight thanthe pre-carbonized substrate. As can be better understood in light ofthe methods of preparing the substrate further discussed below, thesubstrate material as originally prepared will have a defined weightpercentage of carbon in relation to the total weight of the substrate.When the substrate is subjected to carbonization, a content of thenon-carbon materials originally present in the substrate will be removedfrom the substrate such that the weight percent of carbon in thecarbonized substrate relative to the total weight of the carbonizedsubstrate exceeds the weight percent of carbon in the non-carbonizedsubstrate relative to the total weight of the non-carbonized substrate.In some embodiments, the characterization of the substrate as beingcarbonized can mean that the substrate has been subjected tocarbonization conditions as otherwise discussed herein. In specificembodiments, the characterization of the substrate as being carbonizedcan be quantitatively defined as already noted above. For example, theweight percent of carbon in the carbonized substrate can exceed theweight percent of carbon in the non-carbonized substrate by about 5% orgreater, about 10% or greater, about 15% or greater, about 20% orgreater, about 25% or greater, about 30% or greater, about 40% orgreater, or about 50% or greater. Such carbon content can be evaluatedusing any suitable analytical means.

In some embodiments, the conductive substrate can be characterized ascomprising a composite of carbon and a conductive material—e.g., acarbon-graphite composite. Because the conductive material is combinedwith the carbonaceous material prior to carbonization, the finalcomposite material is a substantially homogeneous mixture of the carbonand the conductive material in a solid form that does not degrade uponcontact with liquid (or is otherwise insoluble in aqueous medium) andthat still exhibits a desirable electrical resistance, as otherwisediscussed herein. Such combination of properties would not be expectedto be achievable by combining carbon with a conductive material in a drystate—i.e., without undergoing the carbonization process.

The carbonized substrate further can be characterized in relation to aporosity of the substrate. During carbonization, non-carbon componentsof the substrate can be removed from the substrate effectively leavingbehind the carbon backbone of the underlying material. As such, thecarbonized substrate can have a porosity that is greater than theporosity of the non-carbonized substrate, and such porosity can beadjustable. In specific embodiments, the carbonized substrate can havean average porosity of about 10% or greater, about 20% or greater, about30% or greater, about 40% or greater, about 50% or greater, or about 60%or greater. Such porosity can be quantified as an average of thecombined microporosity and macroporosity of the material. Porosity canbe quantified using any suitable method for measuring porosity, such aswith industrial CT scanning, imbibitions methods, water evaporationmethods, intrusion porosimetry, and gas expansion methods.

In addition to the carbonized substrate, the resistive heating elementfurther can comprise an aerosol precursor or vapor precursor material,such as a polyhydric alcohol (e.g., glycerin, propylene glycol, or amixture thereof) and/or water. Representative types of aerosol precursormaterials are set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,365 to Sensabaugh, Jr. etal.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,101,839 to Jakob et al.; PCT WO 98/57556 to Biggset al.; and Chemical and Biological Studies on New Cigarette Prototypesthat Heat Instead of Burn Tobacco, R. J. Reynolds Tobacco CompanyMonograph (1988); the disclosures of which are incorporated herein byreference. A preferred aerosol precursor material produces a visibleaerosol upon the application of sufficient heat thereto (and coolingwith air, if necessary), and a highly preferred aerosol precursormaterial produces an aerosol that can be considered to be “smoke-like.”A preferred aerosol precursor material is chemically simple, relative tothe chemical nature of the smoke produced by burning tobacco. Ifdesired, aerosol precursor materials can be combined with other liquidmaterials, such as water. For example, aerosol precursor materialformulations can incorporate mixtures of glycerin and water, or mixturesof propylene glycol and water, or mixtures of propylene glycol andglycerin, or mixtures of propylene glycol, glycerin, and water.Exemplary aerosol precursor materials also include those types ofmaterials incorporated within devices available through Atlanta ImportsInc., Acworth, Ga., USA., as an electronic cigar having the brand nameE-CIG, which can be employed using associated Smoking Cartridges TypeC1a, C2a, C3a, C4a, C1b, C2b, C3b and C4b; and as Ruyan AtomizingElectronic Pipe and Ruyan Atomizing Electronic Cigarette from Ruyan SBTTechnology and Development Co., Ltd., Beijing, China.

Further tobacco materials, such as a tobacco aroma oil, a tobaccoessence, a spray dried tobacco extract, a freeze dried tobacco extract,tobacco dust, or the like may be combined with the vapor precursor oraerosol precursor material. As used herein, the term “tobacco extract”means components separated from, removed from, or derived from, tobaccousing tobacco extraction processing conditions and techniques.Typically, tobacco extracts are obtained using solvents, such assolvents having an aqueous nature (e.g., water) or organic solvents(e.g., alcohols, such as ethanol or alkanes, such as hexane). As such,extracted tobacco components are removed from tobacco and separated fromthe unextracted tobacco components; and for extracted tobacco componentsthat are present within a solvent, (i) the solvent can be removed fromthe extracted tobacco components, or (ii) the mixture of extractedtobacco components and solvent can be used as such. For example, tobaccocan be subjected to extraction conditions using water as a solvent; theresulting aqueous extract of tobacco then is separated from the waterinsoluble pulp; and then (i) the mixture of aqueous extract of tobaccowithin water can be used as such, or (ii) substantial amounts of thewater can be removed from extracted tobacco components (e.g., usingspray drying or freeze drying techniques) in order to provide a tobaccoextract in powder form. Preferred tobacco extracts incorporate numerouscomponents that are separated from, removed from, or derived from,tobacco; and are not obtained using tobacco extraction processesconditions that are highly selective to a single component (e.g.,preferred extracts are not high nicotine content extracts, or extractsthat can be characterized as relatively pure nicotine compositions). Assuch, exemplary preferred tobacco extracts possess less than 45 percentnicotine, often less than 35 percent nicotine, and frequently less than25 percent nicotine, on the basis of the total extract weight withsolvent removed (e.g., on a dry weight basis when the solvent is water).In addition, highly preferred tobacco extracts are highly aromatic andflavorful, and hence introduce desirable sensory characteristics to theaerosol produced by the smoking articles incorporating those extracts.Exemplary types of tobacco extracts, tobacco essences, solvents, tobaccoextraction processing conditions and techniques, and tobacco extractcollection and isolation procedures, are set forth in Australia Pat. No.276,250 to Schachner; U.S. Pat. No. 2,805,669 to Meriro; U.S. Pat. No.3,316,919 to Green et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,398,754 to Tughan; U.S. Pat.No. 3,424,171 to Rooker; U.S. Pat. No. 3,476,118 to Luttich; U.S. Pat.No. 4,150,677 to Osborne; U.S. Pat. No. 4,131,117 to Kite; U.S. Pat. No.4,506,682 to Muller; U.S. Pat. No. 4,986,286 to Roberts et al.; U.S.Pat. No. 5,005,593 to Fagg; U.S. Pat. No. 5,065,775 to Fagg; U.S. Pat.No. 5,060,669 to White et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,074,319 to White et al.;U.S. Pat. No. 5,099,862 to White et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,121,757 toWhite et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,415 to Munoz et al.; U.S. Pat. No.5,230,354 to Smith et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,235,992 to Sensabaugh; U.S.Pat. No. 5,243,999 to Smith; U.S. Pat. No. 5,301,694 to Raymond; U.S.Pat. No. 5,318,050 to Gonzalez-Parra et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,325 toClapp et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,445,169 to Brinkley et al.; thedisclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties.

The resistive heating element further can comprise one or more flavors,medicaments, or other inhalable materials associated therewith. Forexample, liquid nicotine can be used. Such further materials may becombined with the aerosol precursor or vapor precursor material. Thus,the aerosol precursor or vapor precursor material may be described ascomprising an inhalable substance in addition to the aerosol. Suchinhalable substance can include flavors, medicaments, and othermaterials as discussed herein. Particularly, an inhalable substancedelivered using a smoking article according to the present invention cancomprise a tobacco component or a tobacco-derived material. For example,the aerosol precursor material can be in a slurry with tobacco, atobacco component, or a tobacco-derived material prior to being added tothe carbonized substrate. Alternately, the flavor, medicament, or otherinhalable material can be provided in a reservoir, and defined aliquotsthereof may be contacted with the substrate associated with heating torelease the flavor, medicament, or other inhalable material into an airstream to be inhaled by a user along with the aerosol precursor or vaporprecursor material. In specific embodiments, the flavor, medicament, orother inhalable material can be deposited on a secondary substrate(e.g., a paper or other porous material) that is located in proximity tothe resistive heating element. The proximity preferably is sufficientsuch that heating of the resistive heating element provides heat to thesecondary substrate sufficient to volatilize and release the flavor,medicament, or other inhalable material from the secondary substrate.

A wide variety of types of flavoring agents, or materials that alter thesensory or organoleptic character or nature of the mainstream aerosol ofthe smoking article, can be employed. Such flavoring agents can beprovided from sources other than tobacco, can be natural or artificialin nature, and can be employed as concentrates or flavor packages. Ofparticular interest are flavoring agents that are applied to, orincorporated within, those regions of the smoking article where aerosolis generated. Again, such agents can be added directly to the substrateof the resistive heating element or may be provided on a secondarysubstrate as already noted above. Exemplary flavoring agents includevanillin, ethyl vanillin, cream, tea, coffee, fruit (e.g., apple,cherry, strawberry, peach and citrus flavors, including lime and lemon),maple, menthol, mint, peppermint, spearmint, wintergreen, nutmeg, clove,lavender, cardamom, ginger, honey, anise, sage, cinnamon, sandalwood,jasmine, cascarilla, cocoa, licorice, and flavorings and flavor packagesof the type and character traditionally used for the flavoring ofcigarette, cigar, and pipe tobaccos. Syrups, such as high fructose cornsyrup, also can be employed. Flavoring agents also can include acidic orbasic characteristics (e.g., organic acids, such as levulinic acid,succinic acid, and pyruvic acid). The flavoring agents can be combinedwith the aerosol-generating material if desired. Exemplary plant-derivedcompositions that may be used are disclosed in U.S. application Ser. No.12/971,746 to Dube et al. and U.S. application Ser. No. 13/015,744 toDube et al., the disclosures of which are incorporated herein byreference in their entireties. The selection of such further componentscan vary based upon factors such as the sensory characteristics that aredesired for the present article, and the present invention is intendedto encompass any such further components that may be readily apparent tothose skilled in the art of tobacco and tobacco-related ortobacco-derived products. See, Gutcho, Tobacco Flavoring Substances andMethods, Noyes Data Corp. (1972) and Leffingwell et al., TobaccoFlavoring for Smoking Products (1972), the disclosures of which areincorporated herein by reference in their entireties. Any of thematerials, such as flavorings, casings, and the like that can be usefulin combination with a tobacco material to affect sensory propertiesthereof, including organoleptic properties, such as already describedherein, may be combined with the aerosol precursor material. Organicacids particularly may incorporated into the aerosol precursor to affectthe flavor, sensation, or organoleptic properties of medicaments, suchas nicotine, that may be combined with the aerosol precursor. Forexample, organic acids, such as levulinic acid, lactic acid, and pyruvicacid, may be included in the aerosol precursor with nicotine in amountsup to being equimolar (based on total organic acid content) with thenicotine. Any combination of organic acids can be used. For example, theaerosol precursor can include about 0.1 to about 0.5 moles of levulinicacid per one mole of nicotine, about 0.1 to about 0.5 moles of pyruvicacid per one mole of nicotine, and about 0.1 to about 0.5 moles oflactic acid per one mole of nicotine, up to a concentration wherein thetotal amount of organic acid present is equimolar to the total amount ofnicotine present in the aerosol precursor.

The aerosol precursor material may take on a variety of conformationsbased upon the various amounts of materials utilized therein. Forexample, a useful aerosol precursor material may comprise up to about98% by weight up to about 95% by weight, or up to about 90% by weight ofa polyol. This total amount can be split in any combination between twoor more different polyols. For example, one polyol can comprise about50% to about 90%, about 60% to about 90%, or about 75% to about 90% byweight of the aerosol precursor, and a second polyol can comprise about2% to about 45%, about 2% to about 25%, or about 2% to about 10% byweight of the aerosol precursor. A useful aerosol precursor also cancomprise up to about 25% by weight, about 20% by weight or about 15% byweight water—particularly about 2% to about 25%, about 5% to about 20%,or about 7% to about 15% by weight water. Flavors and the like (whichcan include medicaments, such as nicotine) can comprise up to about 10%,up to about 8%, or up to about 5% by weight of the aerosol precursor.

As a non-limiting example, an aerosol precursor according to theinvention can comprise glycerol, propylene glycol, water, nicotine, andone or more flavors. Specifically, the glycerol can be present in anamount of about 70% to about 90% by weight, about 70% to about 85% byweight, or about 75% to about 85% by weight, the propylene glycol can bepresent in an amount of about 1% to about 10% by weight, about 1% toabout 8% by weight, or about 2% to about 6% by weight, the water can bepresent in an amount of about 10% to about 20% by weight, about 10% toabout 18% by weight, or about 12% to about 16% by weight, the nicotinecan be present in an amount of about 0.1% to about 5% by weight, about0.5% to about 4% by weight, or about 1% to about 3% by weight, and theflavors can be present in an amount of up to about 5% by weight, up toabout 3% by weight, or up to about 1% by weight, all amounts being basedon the total weight of the aerosol precursor. One specific, non-limitingexample of an aerosol precursor comprises about 75% to about 80% byweight glycerol, about 13% to about 15% by weight water, about 4% toabout 6% by weight propylene glycol, about 2% to about 3% by weightnicotine, and about 0.1% to about 0.5% by weight flavors. The nicotine,for example, can be a high nicotine content tobacco extract.

The manner by which the aerosol precursor material (or other material asdescribed above) is contacted with the substrate material (e.g., thesubstrate of the resistive heating element or a secondary substrate) canvary. The liquid materials can be applied to a formed substrate, or canbe incorporated into a secondary substrate during manufacture of thesubstrate. The aerosol precursor material can be dissolved or dispersedin an aqueous liquid, or other suitable solvent or liquid carrier, andsprayed onto that substrate material. See, for example, US Pat. App.Pub. No. 2005/0066986 to Nestor et al., the disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Generally, the aerosolprecursor material (alone or in combination with a flavorant,medicament, and/or other inhalable substance) can be coated on, absorbedby, or adsorbed in the carbonized substrate. When multiple aerosolprecursor materials and/or other inhalable substances are used, themultiple substances can be associated with the carbonized substrateindividually or in any combinations of the substances. Thus, an aerosolprecursor material and/or other inhalable substance can be considered tobe associated with the carbonized substrate when the aerosol precursorand/or other inhalable substance has been directly applied to thecarbonized substrate by any of the methods disclosed herein or othersuitable method whereby the aerosol precursor and/or other inhalablesubstance is made to be in direct contact with the carbonized substrateand become integral with the carbonized substrate.

The amount of aerosol precursor material employed relative to the dryweight of substrate material can vary. The amount of liquid materialapplied to the substrate can be expressed in relation to the aerosolprecursor or vapor precursor material alone or can be expressed inrelation the total amount of liquid applied (e.g., aerosol precursormaterial plus any flavors, medicaments, or like materials to bedelivered by the smoking article). The amount of liquid applied to thecarbonized substrate can be such that the overall resistive heatingelement comprises about 5% to about 75%, about 10% to about 60%, orabout 15% to about 50% by weight of the liquid component—i.e., theaerosol precursor or vapor precursor material alone or the aerosolprecursor material plus any flavors, medicaments, or like materials tobe delivered by the smoking article.

The conductive substrate of the invention also can be characterized inrelation to the retention capacity of the substrate in relation to theaerosol precursor and/or other inhalable material that may be added tothe substrate. Aerosol precursor retention capacity can be evaluated inrelation to the mass of aerosol precursor retained by a defined mass ofthe carbonized conductive substrate under an applied centrifugal force.For example, when a carbonized conductive substrate of a defined mass isloaded with an aerosol precursor (e.g., glycerol) and then centrifugedat a gravitational acceleration (g) of 27,000, the conductive substratecan retain an amount of the aerosol precursor equal to about 25% orgreater (preferably about 30% or greater, about 40% or greater, about50% or greater, or about 55% or greater) of the mass of the substrate.For example, in one embodiment, a 60 mg conductive substrate accordingto the invention tested under the defined conditions can retain about 35mg of glycerol (i.e., a retention capacity of about 58% by mass).

The amount of aerosol precursor material that is used within the smokingarticle is such that the cigarette exhibits acceptable sensory andorganoleptic properties, and desirable performance characteristics. Forexample, it is highly preferred that sufficient aerosol precursormaterial, such as glycerin and/or propylene glycol, be employed in orderto provide for the generation of a visible mainstream aerosol that inmany regards resembles the appearance of tobacco smoke. Typically, theamount of aerosol-generating material incorporated into the smokingarticle is in the range of about 1.5 g or less, about 1 g or less, orabout 0.5 g or less. The amount of aerosol precursor material can bedependent upon factors such as the number of puffs desired per cartridgeused with the smoking article. It is desirable for theaerosol-generating composition not to introduce significant degrees ofunacceptable off-taste, filmy mouth-feel, or an overall sensoryexperience that is significantly different from that of a traditionaltype of cigarette that generates mainstream smoke by burning tobacco cutfiller. The selection of the particular aerosol-generating material andsubstrate material, the amounts of those components used, and the typesof tobacco material used, can be altered in order to control the overallchemical composition of the mainstream aerosol produced by the smokingarticle.

The aerosol precursor or vapor precursor material can be provided on thesubstrate in a variety of configurations. For example, the material (andany further flavors, etc.) can be applied to the substrate such that theconcentration of the material along the length of the substrate issubstantially constant (e.g., when dividing the substrate into aplurality of lengthwise segments, the total concentration of material ineach individual segment can be substantially similar, such as varying byless than 10%, less than 5%, or less than 2% by mass). In otherembodiments, liquid materials can be present along the substrate in adefined pattern. For example, the pattern may be a gradient wherein theconcentration continually increases or decreases along the length of thesubstrate. In this manner, an individual puff on the article can providean amount of materials that varies in relation to the previous or nextpuff. Any variety of such patterns may be envisioned in light of thepresent disclosure, and such variations are likewise encompassed by thepresent invention.

The amount of aerosol released by the inventive article can vary.Preferably, the article is configured with a sufficient amount of theaerosol precursor material, with a sufficient amount of any furtherinhalable substance, and to function at a sufficient temperature for asufficient time to release a desired content of aerosolized materialsover a course of use. The content may be provided in a single inhalationfrom the article or may be divided so as to be provided through a numberof puffs from the article over a relatively short length of time (e.g.,less than 30 minutes, less than 20 minutes, less than 15 minutes, lessthan 10 minutes, or less than 5 minutes). For example, the article mayprovide nicotine in an amount of about 0.01 mg to about 0.5 mg, about0.05 mg to about 0.3 mg, or about 0.1 mg to about 0.2 mg per puff on thearticle. In other embodiments, a desired amount may be characterized inrelation to the content of wet total particulate matter delivered basedon puff duration and volume. For example, the article may deliver atleast 0.1 mg of wet total particulate matter on each puff, for a definednumber of puffs (as otherwise described herein), when smoked understandard FTC smoking conditions of 2 second, 35 ml puffs. Such testingmay be carried out using any standard smoking machine. In otherembodiments, the content of wet total particulate matter (WTPM)delivered under the same conditions on each puff (of approximately 2seconds in duration) may be at least 1.5 mg, at least 1.7 mg, at least2.0 mg, at least 2.5 mg, at least 3.0 mg, about 1.0 mg to about 5.0 mg,about 1.5 mg to about 4.0 mg, about 2.0 mg to about 4.0 mg, or about 2.0mg to about 3.0 mg. Such values can relate to the content of aerosolprecursor material that is delivered alone or in combination with anyfurther inhalable substances that are being delivered by the article.For purposes of calculations, an average puff time of about 2 secondscan deliver a puff volume of about 5 ml to about 100 ml, about 15 ml toabout 70 ml, about 20 ml to about 60 ml, or about 25 ml to about 50 ml.Such total puff volume may provide, in certain embodiments, the WTPMcontent previously described. Thus, WTPM as delivered may becharacterized in relation to the total puff volume—e.g., about 1 mg toabout 4 mg WTPM in a total puff volume of about 25 ml to about 75 ml.Such characterization is inclusive of all puff volume values and WTPMvalues otherwise described herein. A smoking article according to theinvention can be configured to provide any number of puff calculable bythe total amount of aerosol or other inhalable substance to be delivered(or the total WTPM to be delivered) divided by the amount to bedelivered per puff. The conductive substrate (or plurality of individualconductive substrates) can be loaded with the appropriate amount ofaerosol precursor or other inhalable substance to achieve the desirednumber of puffs and/or the desired total amount of material to bedelivered.

The resistive heating element can be characterized in relation to theresistance of the material. Such resistance can relate to resistance inthe non-carbonized form (which can be referred to as the raw substrate).Resistance further can be measured in relation to the carbonized stateof the substrate (with or without an aerosol precursor materialassociated therewith). As further discussed herein, it was surprisingaccording to the invention to find that the resistance of the resistiveheating element can differ greatly between the raw substrate and thecarbonized substrate. Thus, substrate formulations in the raw state canexhibit a resistance that makes the substrate unworkable in theinventive smoking article. On the other hand, the same substrateformulation can be transformed into a highly useful resistive heatingelement by the act of carbonizing the substrate. In specificembodiments, a resistive heating element formed of a carbonizedsubstrate that can be useful according to the invention can have aresistance of about 50 ohms or less, about 30 ohms or less, about 25ohms or less, about 20 ohms or less, about 15 ohms or less, about 10ohms or less, or about 8 ohms or less. In particular embodiments, theresistive heating element including the carbonized substrate can have aresistance of about 0.01 ohms to about 50 ohms, about 0.05 ohms to about25 ohms, about 0.1 ohms to about 10 ohms, about 0.2 ohms to about 8ohms, about 0.5 ohms to about 5 ohms, or about 1 ohms to about 4 ohms.Resistance specifically can be evaluated across a basis length. Forexample, the foregoing resistance values can be calculated across asegment of material having a segment length of 10 mm. A different basislength, however, may be chosen for making comparative resistancemeasurements.

In further embodiments, heating can be characterized in relation to theamount of aerosol to be generated. Specifically, the article can beconfigured to provide an amount of heat necessary to generate a definedvolume of aerosol (e.g., about 5 ml to about 100 ml, or any other volumedeemed useful in a smoking article, such as otherwise described herein).In certain, the amount of heat generated can be measured in relation toa two second puff providing about 35 ml of aerosol at a heatertemperature of about 290° C. In some embodiments, the article preferablycan provide about 1 to about 50 Joules of heat per second (J/s), about 2J/s to about 40 J/s, about 3 J/s to about 35 J/s, or about 5 J/s toabout 30 J/s.

In light of the foregoing, it can be seen that certain combinations ofmaterials and conditions can provide resistive heating elements that areparticularly useful in the inventive smoking articles. For example,particular resistive heating elements can comprise the followingcombinations of materials, the substrates being carbonized, and theresistive heating elements having a resistance as otherwise disclosedherein:

-   -   a substrate comprising an electrically conductive material        selected from the group consisting of graphite, metals, and        combinations thereof; and at least one polysaccharide; and        having a polyhydric alcohol aerosol precursor material        associated therewith;    -   a substrate comprising an electrically conductive material        selected from the group consisting of graphite, metals, and        combinations thereof; and carbon particles; and having a        polyhydric alcohol aerosol precursor material associated        therewith;    -   a substrate comprising graphite; and at least one        polysaccharide; and having a polyhydric alcohol aerosol        precursor material associated therewith;    -   a substrate comprising graphite; and carbon particles; and        having a polyhydric alcohol aerosol precursor material        associated therewith;    -   a substrate comprising an electrically conductive material        selected from the group consisting of graphite, metals, and        combinations thereof; at least one polysaccharide; and tobacco;        and having a polyhydric alcohol aerosol precursor material        associated therewith;    -   a substrate comprising an electrically conductive material        selected from the group consisting of graphite, metals, and        combinations thereof; carbon particles; and tobacco; and having        a polyhydric alcohol aerosol precursor material associated        therewith;    -   a substrate comprising graphite; at least one polysaccharide;        and tobacco; and having a polyhydric alcohol aerosol precursor        material associated therewith;    -   a substrate comprising graphite; carbon particles; and tobacco;        and having a polyhydric alcohol aerosol precursor material        associated therewith;    -   a substrate comprising an electrically conductive material        selected from the group consisting of graphite, metals, and        combinations thereof; and tobacco; and having a polyhydric        alcohol aerosol precursor material associated therewith; and    -   a substrate comprising graphite; and tobacco; and having a        polyhydric alcohol aerosol precursor material associated        therewith.        Any of the foregoing exemplary embodiments further may include        one or more inhalable materials (e.g., nicotine or other        flavorant) combined with the aerosol precursor material (i.e.,        added to the carbonized substrate either separately or in        combination).

The conductive substrate useful as a resistive heating element can takeon a variety of shapes, configurations, and geometries. Because of thestructural stability of the carbonized conductive substrate, thesubstrate does not solubilize when loaded with an aerosol precursor.This makes it possible according to the invention to provide the finalconductive substrate (including being loaded with an aerosol precursor)in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, including thin films, thatprovide uniform heating and thus uniform vapor and/or aerosolproduction. Accordingly, the final conductive substrate can be providedin a substantially rigid form. Moreover, the conductive substrate thusprovides a resistive heater and aerosol precursor in a single,monolithic form.

In certain embodiments, the conductive substrate can be elongated (i.e.,having a greater length than average diameter, average thickness, oraverage width). Specifically, the conductive substrate can besubstantially rod-shaped. In such embodiments, the conductive substratecan have a length of about 5 mm to about 40 mm, about 7.5 mm to about 35mm, or about 10 mm to about 30 mm. The conductive substrate likewise canhave a mean diameter of about 0.1 mm to about 10 mm, about 0.2 mm toabout 6 mm, about 0.5 mm to about 5 mm, or about 1.5 mm to about 3 mm.Preferably, the conductive substrate has a substantially uniformdiameter. In some embodiments, however, the conductive substrate canhave a non-uniform cross-sectional geometry. In further embodiments, thecross-section of the conductive substrate can have any of the followingshapes: round, triangle, oval, square, rectangle, star-shaped, Y-shapedT-shaped, or the like. Generally, any shape achievable in an extrusionprocess through a die can be applied to the conductive substrate of theinvention, although shapes that maximize surface area can be preferred.Still further, the conductive substrate can include aspects useful toincrease surface area. For example, the conductive substrate can includea central passageway open at one or both ends of the conductivesubstrate and/or open to an outer surface of the conductive substrate atone or more locations. The exterior surface of the conductive substratealso can be shaped to increase surface area, such as being grooved orhaving cavities or other indentations formed therein.

The substrate of the resistive heating element can be the resultingmaterial from any useful method of preparation. For example, thesubstrate can be an extrudate. In other embodiments, the substrate canbe in a non-extruded form (i.e., may be molded, pressed, cut, etc.).Still further, the substrate could be pelletized, granulated, or in anyfurther particulate form having a mean particle size in the range ofabout 0.1 mm to about 5 mm, about 0.25 mm to about 4.5 mm, or about 0.5mm to about 4 mm. In other embodiments, mean particle size can be about5 mm or less, about 4 mm or less, about 3 mm or less, about 2 mm orless, or about 1 mm or less. The particulate substrate can be filledinto a suitable container (e.g., a tube or other shaped container ofsuitable size for use in the inventive smoking article and being formedof a material that is substantially porous to allow formed aerosol toescape therefrom) or may be otherwise compacted into a unitary body,such as through combination with a suitable binder.

In still other embodiments, the substrate can be in the form of a sheet.Such sheet can be cut to size for use in the inventive smoking device.Alternately, the sheet can be rolled, such as to be substantially tubeshaped. Still further, the conductive substrate can be formed of aplurality of individual conductive substrates. For example, 2 or more, 3or more, 4 or more, 5 or more 6 or more, 7 or more, 8 or more, 9 ormore, or 10 or more individual conductive substrates (such as individualrods) can be bundled or otherwise combined to form the overallconductive substrate. Similarly, a plurality of individual conductivesubstrates, such as in the form of individual discs of varying thicknessand diameter, can be provided as the overall conductive substrate. Inexemplary embodiments, such plurality of individual conductivesubstrates can be provided in series in the smoking apparatus. Exemplaryconfigurations of conductive substrates according to the invention arefurther described below in relation to various illustrations.

Provision of a plurality of individual conductive substrates can beadvantageous for providing a number of charges of aerosol precursormaterial and/or for improving consistency of delivered aerosol andconsistency of power requirements to form the aerosol. As such, theindividual conductive substrates can be individually wired to thecontrol components and power supply such that less than all of theindividual conductive substrates are powered for aerosol production at asingle time. For example, a single conductive substrate can beconfigured to provide approximately 8-10 puffs of two secondduration—i.e., the equivalent to approximately one conventionalcigarette. Thus, for example, a smoking article according to theinvention can provide the number of puffs equivalent to fiveconventional cigarettes by including five individual conductivesubstrates. Other iterations also are encompassed and can be designedbased upon the number of individual conductive substrates present andthe number of puffs provided by each individual conductive substrate.

Although it can be preferred for the electrically conductive materialand the at least one carbonaceous additive to be mixed, otherembodiments are not necessarily excluded. For example, the electricallyconductive material can be in the form of a core that is substantiallysurrounded by the at least one carbonaceous additive (which may be inthe form of a sheet). Alternatively, the electrically conductivematerial can be in the form of a sheath that substantially surrounds acore comprising the at least one carbonaceous additive. Otherconfigurations of combinations of the components of the resistiveheating element likewise are encompassed by the present disclosure.

The resistive heating element preferably is in electrical connectionwith the power source of the smoking article such that electrical energycan be provided to the resistive heating element to produce heat andsubsequently aerosolize the aerosol precursor material and any otherinhalable substance provided by the smoking article. Such electricalconnection can be permanent (e.g., hard wired) or can be removable(e.g., wherein the resistive heating element is provided in a cartridgethat can be attached to and detached from a control body that includesthe power source).

Further to the foregoing, the present invention also provides methods ofpreparing a resistive heating element that can be used in a smokingarticle or other device wherein heating is used to volatilize a materialfor delivery to a consumer via inhalation. Generally, the method cancomprise combining an electrically conductive material with at least onecarbonaceous additive to form a substrate wherein, after the materialsare combined, the carbonaceous additive is in a carbonized state.Carbonization can comprise heating the carbonaceous additive to driveoff at least a portion of the non-carbon components of the additive.More specifically, carbonization can comprise heating to a temperatureof about 250° C. or greater, about 300° C. or greater, about 350° C. orgreater, about 400° C. or greater, or about 500° C. or greater. Heatingcan be carried out for a time of about 10 minutes or greater, about 30minutes or greater, about 60 minutes or greater, about 90 minutes orgreater, or about 120 minutes or greater. Such heating can take place inany heater useful for achieving the noted temperatures, such as aBarnstead Thermolyne 62700 furnace. Carbonization particularly mayproceed with ramped heating wherein the temperature is raisedincrementally until the maximum calcining temperature is achieved. Forexample, temperature ramping for calcinations can be at a rate of about1° C./minute to about 20° C./minute, about 2° C./minute to about 15°C./minute, or about 5° C./minute to about 10° C./minute. Preferably,carbonization can be carried out in an inert atmosphere.

Carbonization of the carbonaceous additive can be carried out prior tocombination with the electrically conductive material. Alternatively,carbonization can be carried out after combination with the electricallyconductive material. The substrate formed of the combination of theelectrically conductive material and the at least one carbonaceousmaterial (in the carbonized state) can have an aerosol precursormaterial associated therewith to form the final resistive heatingelement.

In certain embodiments, it can be advantageous to combine theelectrically conductive material with at least one carbonaceous additiveprior to any carbonization. For example, all dry ingredients used informing the substrate can be combined initially. Combining can comprise,for example, mixing of the materials for a defined time—e.g., about 5minutes or greater, about 10 minutes or greater, about 15 minutes orgreater, about 30 minutes or greater, about 1 hour or greater, or about2 hours or greater. Mixing can be desirable for uniformity of thecombination to ensure that the electrically conductive material issubstantially evenly dispersed throughout the formed substrate. Mixingalso can comprise adding a liquid to the combination of materials. Theliquid, such as water, can be provided such that the mixture has amoisture content of about 10% or greater, about 15% or greater, about20% or greater, or about 25% or greater. Further exemplary liquids thatcan be used to add moisture to the mixture and/or for forming adough-like consistency can include polyols, such as glycerol andpropylene glycol. The formed combination of materials can be referred toas an intermediate substrate. The intermediate substrate can becharacterized as being a plastic mass. This can particularly mean thatthe mass of the intermediate substrate can be shaped in that thesubstrate mass can sustain deformation continuously in any directionwithout rupture.

As an example, the intermediate substrate can be shaped in that it canbe extruded through a suitable die such that the intermediate substrateis in the form of an extrudate. Such extrudate can have an elongatedform—e.g., substantially rod shaped. Extrusion can be useful to providethe intermediate substrate with a uniform shape and uniform dimensions,particularly diameter. Of course, extrusion can be useful for forming avariety of shapes, including pellets, granules, and elongated pieceswith diverse cross-sectional shapes. Still further, forming of theintermediate substrate can include forming the material into a sheet ofdefined thickness—e.g., about 0.1 mm to about 7 mm, about 0.5 mm toabout 5 mm, or about 0.1 mm to about 2.5 mm. Such forming can includemolding, cutting, and other methods. Formed sheets particularly can berolled to form substantially tube-shaped intermediate substrates. Thesubstrate also can be co-extruded to provide inner and outer sectionsthat can provide different properties. For example, one section of aconductive substrate may be formed of a material more or less porous,more or less conductive, or the like, in comparison to a second sectionof the conductive substrate.

If desired, the intermediate substrate can be formed with a passagewaytherethrough. For example, the extrusion die can be constructed toextrude a continuous filament with a central passageway therethrough.The passageway can be dimensioned so as to allow for air draw throughthe passageway when the resistive heating element is incorporated into asmoking article as described herein. The central passageway can have anaverage diameter that is proportional to the average diameter of theoverall heating element. For example, the average diameter of thecentral passageway can be about 1% to about 90%, about 5% to about 75%,about 10% to about 50%, or about 15% to about 40% of the averagediameter of the carbonized substrate in the resistive heating element.

Even further, the electrically conductive material and the carbonaceousadditive can be processed separately (i.e., unmixed) to form theintermediate substrate. For example, the combining step can compriseproviding the electrically conductive material the form of a core (e.g.,as an elongated rod or the like or as a mass of particles), and the corecan be substantially surrounded by the carbonaceous additive. In suchembodiments, the carbonaceous additive may be provided in asubstantially dough-like consistency. The electrically conductivematerial further can be combined with a binder such that theelectrically conductive material and the carbonaceous additive can beprovided separately and be co-extruded to make the desired form. Suchalso could be used in a method wherein combining can comprise providingthe electrically conductive material in the form of a sheath thatsubstantially surrounds a core comprising the carbonaceous additive.

The intermediate substrate can be further processed for carbonization ofthe carbonaceous material. Specifically, carbonization can compriseheating for a defined period of time at a temperature as discussedabove. Thereafter, the combination of materials can be referred to as acarbonized substrate. Prior to carbonization, the formed, intermediatesubstrate can undergo one or more drying steps to reduce the inherentmoisture content. For example, the substrate can be dried at roomtemperature for a time of about 10 minutes to about 120 minutes, about20 minutes to about 150 minutes, or about 30 minutes to about 90minutes. Such drying can be used to stabilize the material prior tocutting. Cut lengths of the formed substrate can be further dried at atemperature of up to about 50° C., up to about 40° C., or up to about35° C. for a time of about 1 hour to about 48 hours, about 4 hours toabout 36 hours, or about 8 hours to about 24 hours prior tocarbonization.

In some embodiments, the carbonized substrate may comprise some contentof volatilizable component, and no further treatment may be required.Typically, the carbonization (or calcinization) of the carbonaceousmaterial, however, drives away substantially all volatile components ofthe carbonaceous material leaving mainly only the carbon skeleton of thematerial. Thus, in some embodiments, the method further can compriseassociating an aerosol precursor material with the carbonized substrateto form the resistive heating element. Such associating step cancomprise any means combining the aerosol precursor material with thecarbonized substrate in a manner wherein the aerosol precursor materialcan be volatilized upon resistive heating of the substrate to form anaerosol. Specifically, the aerosol precursor material can be coated ontothe substrate, sprayed on to the substrate, or applied to the substrateby dipping the substrate into the aerosol precursor material. Theaerosol precursor material can be vacuum deposited onto the substrate ator above room temperature. Such association can be via a coatingmechanism, an adsorbing mechanism, or and absorbing mechanism. Ifdesired, excess aerosol precursor material can be removed from thesubstrate, such as by centrifugation.

The resistive heating element can be formed using additional processingsteps, such as cutting the material into defined lengths for use in asmoking article. Such additional processing can be applied to theintermediate substrate or the carbonized substrate. Thus, in light ofthe foregoing disclosure, it is evident that a resistive heating elementproviding an integral heater and aerosol forming substrate can beprovided for combination with the further components discussed above soas to form a useful smoking article.

Although a variety of materials for use in a smoking article accordingto the present invention have been described above—such as heaters,batteries, capacitors, switching components, aerosol formers, and thelike, the invention should not be construed as being limited to only theexemplified embodiments. Rather, one of skill in the art can recognizebased on the present disclosure similar components in the field that maybe interchanged with any specific component of the present invention.For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,424 to Sprinkel, Jr. disclosespiezoelectric sensors that can be associated with the mouth-end of adevice to detect user lip activity associated with taking a draw andthen trigger heating; U.S. Pat. No. 5,372,148 to McCafferty et al.discloses a puff sensor for controlling energy flow into a heating loadarray in response to pressure drop through a mouthpiece; U.S. Pat. No.5,967,148 to Harris et al. discloses receptacles in a smoking devicethat include an identifier that detects a non-uniformity in infraredtransmissivity of an inserted component and a controller that executes adetection routine as the component is inserted into the receptacle; U.S.Pat. No. 6,040,560 to Fleischhauer et al. describes a defined executablepower cycle with multiple differential phases; U.S. Pat. No. 5,934,289to Watkins et al. discloses photonic-optronic components; U.S. Pat. No.5,954,979 to Counts et al. discloses means for altering draw resistancethrough a smoking device; U.S. Pat. No. 6,803,545 to Blake et al.discloses specific battery configurations for use in smoking devices;U.S. Pat. No. 7,293,565 to Griffen et al. discloses various chargingsystems for use with smoking devices; US 2009/0320863 by Fernando et al.discloses computer interfacing means for smoking devices to facilitatecharging and allow computer control of the device; US 2010/0163063 byFernando et al. discloses identification systems for smoking devices;and WO 2010/003480 by Flick discloses a fluid flow sensing systemindicative of a puff in an aerosol generating system; all of theforegoing disclosures being incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties. Further examples of components related to electronic aerosoldelivery articles and disclosing materials or components that may beused in the present article include U.S. Pat. No. 4,735,217 to Gerth etal.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,586 to Morgan et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,666,977to Higgins et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,053,176 to Adams et al.; U.S. Pat.No. 6,164,287 to White; U.S. Pat No. 6,196,218 to Voges; U.S. Pat. No.6,810,883 to Felter et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,854,461 to Nichols; US Pat.No. 7,832,410 to Hon; U.S. Pat. No. 7,513,253 to Kobayashi; U.S. Pat.No. 7,896,006 to Hamano; U.S. Pat. No. 6,772,756 to Shayan; US Pat. Pub.Nos. 2009/0095311, 2006/0196518, 2009/0126745, and 2009/0188490 to Hon;US Pat. Pub. No. 2009/0272379 to Thorens et al.; US Pat. Pub. Nos.2009/0260641 and 2009/0260642 to Monsees et al.; US Pat. Pub. Nos.2008/0149118 and 2010/0024834 to Oglesby et al.; US Pat. Pub. No.2010/0307518 to Wang; and WO 2010/091593 to Hon. A variety of thematerials disclosed by the foregoing documents may be incorporated intothe present devices in various embodiments, and all of the foregoingdisclosures are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Although an article according to the invention may take on a variety ofembodiments, as discussed in detail below, the use of the article by aconsumer will be similar in scope. In particular, the article can beprovided as a single unit or as a plurality of components that arecombined by the consumer for use and then are dismantled by the consumerthereafter. Generally, a smoking article according to the invention cancomprise a first unit that is engagable and disengagable with a secondunit, the first unit comprising the resistive heating element, and thesecond unit comprising the electrical power source. In some embodiments,the second unit further can comprise one or more control components thatactuate or regulate current flow from the electrical power source. Thefirst unit can comprise a distal end that engages the second unit and anopposing, proximate end that includes a mouthpiece with an opening at aproximate end thereof. The first unit can comprise an air flow pathopening into the mouthpiece of the first unit, and the air flow path canprovide for passage of aerosol formed from the resistive heating elementinto the mouthpiece. In preferred embodiments, the first unit can bedisposable. Likewise, the second unit can be reusable.

More specifically, a smoking article according to the invention can havea reusable control body that is substantially cylindrical in shapehaving a connecting end and an opposing, closed end. The closed end ofthe control housing may include one or more indicators of active use ofthe article. The article further can comprise a cartridge with aconnecting end that engage the connecting end of the control body andwith an opposing, mouthend. To use the article, the consumer can connecta connecting end of the cartridge to the connecting end of the controlbody or otherwise combine the cartridge with the control body so thatthe article is operable as discussed herein. In some embodiments, theconnecting ends of the control body and the cartridge can be threadedfor a screw-type engagement. In other embodiments, the connecting endscan have a press-fit engagement.

During use, the consumer initiates heating of the resistive heatingelement that includes the aerosol precursor material and any furtherinhalable substances. Such heating releases at least a portion of theaerosol precursor material in the form of an aerosol (which can includeany further inhalable substances included therewith), and such aerosolis provided within a space inside the cartridge that is in fluidcommunication with the mouthend of the cartridge. When the consumerinhales on the mouth end of the cartridge, air is drawn through thecartridge, and the combination of the drawn air and the aerosol isinhaled by the consumer as the drawn materials exit the mouth end of thecartridge into the mouth of the consumer. To initiate heating, theconsumer may actuate a pushbutton, capacitive sensor, or similarcomponent that causes the resistive heating element to receiveelectrical energy from the battery or other energy source (such as acapacitor). The electrical energy may be supplied for a pre-determinedlength of time or may be manually controlled. Preferably, flow ofelectrical energy does not substantially proceed in between puffs on thearticle (although energy flow may proceed to maintain a baselinetemperature greater than ambient temperature—e.g., a temperature thatfacilitates rapid heating to the active heating temperature). In furtherembodiments, heating may be initiated by the puffing action of theconsumer through use of various sensors, as otherwise described herein.Once the puff is discontinued, heating will stop or be reduced. When theconsumer has taken a sufficient number of puffs so as to have released asufficient amount of the inhalable substance (e.g., an amount sufficientto equate to a typical smoking experience), the cartridge can be removedfrom the control housing and discarded. Indication that the cartridge isspent (i.e., the aerosol precursor material has been substantiallyremoved by the consumer) can be provided. In some embodiments, a singlecartridge can provide more than a single smoking experience and thus mayprovide a sufficient content of aerosol precursor material to simulateas much as full pack of conventional cigarettes or even more. Likewise,a plurality of individual conductive substrates can be provided in asingle smoking article to provide a defined number of puffs,conventional cigarette equivalents, or the like.

The foregoing description of use of the article can be applied to thevarious embodiments described through minor modifications, which can beapparent to the person of skill in the art in light of the furtherdisclosure provided herein. The above description of use, however, isnot intended to limit the use of the inventive article but is providedto comply with all necessary requirements of disclosure of the presentinvention.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a smoking article 10 according to the inventiongenerally can comprise a shell 15 and a plurality of components providedwithin the shell. The article can be characterized as having a mouthend11 (i.e., the end upon which a consumer can draw to inhale aerosol fromthe article), and a distal end 12. The illustrated article is providedas a single unitary device (however, line A indicates an optionaldemarcation whereby the device can be two separate components that arejoined together, either removably or permanently, such as by gluing). Aswill be evident from the further disclosure herein, it can be preferablefor further embodiments of the article to be formed of two or moredetachable units, each housing separate components of the article. Thevarious components shown in the embodiment of FIG. 1 can be present inother embodiments, including embodiments formed of multiple units.

The article 10 according to the invention can have an overall shape thatmay be defined as being substantially rod-like or substantially tubularshaped or substantially cylindrically shaped. As illustrated in FIG. 1,the article has a substantially round cross-section; however, othercross-sectional shapes (e.g., oval, square, triangle, etc.) also areencompassed by the present disclosure. Such language that is descriptiveof the physical shape of the article may also be applied to theindividual units of the article in embodiments comprising multipleunits, such as a control body and a cartridge.

The shell 15 of the smoking article 10 can be formed of any materialsuitable for forming and maintaining an appropriate conformation, suchas a tubular shape, and for retaining therein the suitable components ofthe article. The shell can be formed of a single wall, as shown inFIG. 1. In some embodiments, the shell can be formed of a material(natural or synthetic) that is heat resistant so as to retain itsstructural integrity—e.g., does not degrade—at least at a temperaturethat is the heating temperature provided by the resistive heatingelement, as further discussed herein. In some embodiments, a heatresistant polymer may be used. In other embodiments, the shell can beformed from paper, such as a paper that is substantially straw-shaped.As further discussed herein, the shell, such as a paper tube, may haveone or more layers associated therewith that function to substantiallyprevent movement of vapor therethrough. In one example, an aluminum foillayer may be laminated to one surface of the shell. Ceramic materialsalso may be used. In further embodiments, an insulator layer 70 can beincluded, specifically in the area of the shell where the resistiveheating element 50 is present, so as not to unnecessarily move heat awayfrom the resistive heating element. The insulator layer, however, can bepresent in other areas of the article (including substantially theentire length of the article). For example, in embodiments wherein thearticle comprises a control body and a separate cartridge, the controlbody can include an insulator layer, if desired. The insulator layer 70can be formed of a paper or other fibrous material, such as a cellulose.Further, the shell 15 can include an overwrap 115 (as illustrated inFIG. 7c ) on at least a portion thereof, such as at the mouthend 11 ofthe article, and such overwrap also may be formed of multiple layers.The overwrap can be, for example, a typical wrapping paper in acigarette. The overwrap particularly may comprise a material typicallyused in a filter element of a conventional cigarette, such as celluloseacetate and thus can function to provide the sensation of a conventionalcigarette in the mouth of a consumer. Exemplary types of wrappingmaterials, wrapping material components, and treated wrapping materialsthat may be used in an overwrap in the present invention are describedin U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,838 to White et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,419 toArzonico et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,220,930 to Gentry; U.S. Pat. No.6,908,874 to Woodhead et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,929,013 to Ashcraft etal.; U.S. Pat. No. 7,195,019 to Hancock et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 7,276,120to Holmes; U.S. Pat. No. 7,275,548 to Hancock et al.; PCT WO 01/08514 toFournier et al.; and PCT WO 03/043450 to Hajaligol et al., thedisclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties. Representative wrapping materials are commercially availableas R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company Grades 119, 170, 419, 453, 454, 456,465, 466, 490, 525, 535, 557, 652, 664, 672, 676 and 680 fromSchweitzer-Maudit International. The porosity of the wrapping materialcan vary, and frequently is between about 5 CORESTA units and about30,000 CORESTA units, often is between about 10 CORESTA units and about90 CORESTA units, and frequently is between about 8 CORESTA units andabout 80 CORESTA units.

To maximize aerosol and flavor delivery which otherwise may be dilutedby radial (i.e., outside) air infiltration through the shell 15, one ormore layers of non-porous cigarette paper may be used to envelop thearticle (with or without the overwrap present). Examples of suitablenon-porous cigarette papers are commercially available fromKimberly-Clark Corp. as KC-63-5, P878-5, P878-16-2 and 780-63-5.Preferably, the overwrap is a material that is substantially impermeableto the vapor formed during use of the inventive article. If desired, theoverwrap (or the shell if the overwrap is absent) can comprise aresilient paperboard material, foil-lined paperboard, metal, polymericmaterials, or the like, and this material can be circumscribed by acigarette paper wrap. Moreover, the article 10 can include a tippingpaper that circumscribes the article and optionally may be used toattach a filter material to the article.

The shell 15, when formed of a single layer, can have a thickness ofabout 0.2 mm to about 5.0 mm, about 0.5 mm to about 4.0 mm, about 0.5 mmto about 3.0 mm, or about 1.0 mm to about 3.0 mm. The addition offurther layers, as discussed above, can add to the thickness of theshell. Further exemplary types of components and materials that may beused to provide the functions described above or be used as alternativesto the materials and components noted above can be those of the typesset forth in US Pub. No. 2010/00186757 to Crooks et al.; US Pub. No.2010/00186757 to Crooks et al.; and US Pub. No. 2011/0041861 toSebastian et al.; the disclosures of which are incorporated herein byreference in their entireties.

As seen in the embodiment of FIG. 1, the smoking article 10 includes anelectronic control component 20, a flow sensor 30, and a battery 40, andthese components can be placed in a variety of orders within thearticle. Although not expressly shown, it is understood that the article10 can include wiring as necessary to provide power from the battery 40to the further components and to interconnect the components forappropriate operation of the necessary functions provided by thearticle. The article 10 further includes a resistive heating element 50as described herein. The resistive heating element 50 is in electricalconnection with the battery 40. For example, the resistive heatingelement 50 can include terminals 51 (illustrated as being positioned atthe opposing ends of the heating element) to facilitate formation of aclosed electrical circuit with current flow through the heating element.Further wiring (not illustrated) can be included to provide thenecessary electrical connections within the article. In specificembodiments, the article 10 can be wired with an electrical circuit suchthat the control component 20 delivers, controls, or otherwise modulatespower from the battery 40 for energizing the resistive heating element50 according to one or more defined algorithms, such as alreadydescribed above. Such electrical circuit can specifically incorporatethe flow sensor 30 such that the article 10 is only active at times ofuse by the consumer. For example, when a consumer puffs on the article10, the flow sensor detects the puff, and the control component is thenactivated to direct power through the article such that the resistiveheating element 50 produces heat and thus provides aerosol forinhalation by the consumer. The control algorithm may call for power tothe resistive heating element 50 to cycle and thus maintain a definedtemperature. The control algorithm therefore can be programmed toautomatically deactivate the article 10 and discontinue power flowthrough the article after a defined time lapse without a puff by aconsumer. Moreover, the article can include a temperature sensor toprovide feedback to the control component. Such sensor can be, forexample, in direct contact with the resistive heating element 50.Alternative temperature sensing means likewise may be used, such asrelying upon logic control components to evaluate resistance through theresistive heating element and correlate such resistance to thetemperature of the element. In other embodiments, the flow sensor 30 maybe replaced by appropriate components to provide alternative sensingmeans, such as capacitive sensing, as otherwise described herein. Anyvariety of sensors and combinations thereof can be incorporated, asalready described herein. Still further, one or more control buttons 16can be included to allow for manual actuation by a consumer to elicit avariety of functions, such as powering the article 10 on and off,turning on the heating element 50 to generate a vapor or aerosol forinhalation, or the like.

Additionally, the article can include on or more status indicators 19positioned on the shell 15. Such indicators, as discussed above, canshow the number of puffs taken or remaining from the article, can beindicative of an active or inactive status, can light up in response toa puff, or the like. Although six indicators are illustrated, more orfewer indicators can be present, and the indicators can take ondifferent shapes and can even being simply an opening in the shell (suchas for release of sound when such indicators are present).

As illustrated in the embodiment of FIG. 1, a secondary substrate 53 isshown in proximity to the heating element 50 and preferably can be indirect contact therewith such that heat produced by the resistiveheating element causes vapor formation as the aerosol precursor and anyfurther inhalable materials are released from the substrate. A varietyof substrate materials can be used in forming the secondary substrate53. As further described herein, it can be advantageous for the heatingelement 50 and the secondary substrate 53 to be combined into a singlecomponent, and such combination of the component is described inrelation to further figures below.

As also seen in the embodiment of FIG. 1, the article 10 includes anopen cavity surrounding the resistive heating element 50 (and thesecondary substrate 53). Such open cavity provides a volume for releaseof the aerosol from the secondary substrate 53. The article alsoincludes a mouth opening 18 in the mouthend 11 to allow for withdrawalof the aerosol from the cavity around the resistive heating element 50.Although not expressly shown in the illustration of FIG. 1, the articlecan include a filter material (such as cellulose acetate orpolypropylene) in the mouthend thereof to increase the structuralintegrity thereof and/or to provide filtering capacity, if desired,and/or to provide resistance to draw. For example, an article accordingto the invention can exhibit a pressure drop of about 50 to about 250 mmwater pressure drop at 17.5 cc/second air flow. In further embodiments,pressure drop can be about 60 mm to about 180 mm or about 70 mm to about150 mm. Pressure drop value may be measured using a Filtrona Filter TestStation (CTS Series) available from Filtrona Instruments and AutomationLtd or a Quality Test Module (QTM) available from the Cerulean Divisionof Molins, PLC. To facilitate air flow through the article, an airintake 17 can be provided and can substantially comprise an aperture inthe shell 15 that allows for air flow into the interior of the article.A plurality of air intakes can be provided, and the air intakes can bepositioned at any location upstream from the mouthend of the articlesuch that air from the air intake can mingle with and facilitate removalof the formed aerosol from the cavity around the resistive heatingelement/substrate and through the opening in the mouthend of thearticle. Although not illustrated, if desired, structural elements canbe provided within the article so as to effectively isolate one or morecomponents within the article from the air flowing from the air intaketo the opening in the mouthend. In other words, a defined air flow pathcan be provided, and such defined air flow path can substantially avoidair flowing through the air flow path from coming into physical contactwith one or both of the battery 40 and the control component 20. Asillustrated in FIG. 1, air taken in through the air intake 17 passes theflow sensor 30 before entering the cavity surrounding the heatingelement/substrate such that activation of the flow sensor willfacilitate heating of the heating element, as otherwise describedherein.

In preferred embodiments, the article 10 may take on a size that iscomparative to a cigarette or cigar shape. Thus, the article may have adiameter of about 5 mm to about 25 mm, about 5 mm to about 20 mm, about6 mm to about 15 mm, or about 6 mm to about 10 mm. Such dimension mayparticularly correspond to the outer diameter of the shell 15.

The smoking article 10 in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 can becharacterized as a disposable article. Accordingly, it can be desirablefor the substrate 53 in such embodiments to include a sufficient amountof aerosol precursor material and any further inhalable materials (whichmay separately be provided on a different substrate) so that a consumercan obtain more than a single use of the article. For example, thearticle can include sufficient aerosolizable and/or inhalable materialssuch that the article can provide a number of puffs substantiallyequivalent to the number of puffs (of about two seconds duration)available from a plurality of conventional cigarettes—e.g., 2 or more, 5or more, 10 or more, or 20 or more conventional cigarettes. Moreparticularly, a disposable, single unit article according to theembodiment of FIG. 1 can provide about 20 or more, about 50 or more, orabout 100 or more puffs, a single puff being measured as alreadydescribed herein.

In particularly preferred embodiments an article according to theinvention can comprise two units that are attachable and detachable fromeach other. For example, FIG. 2 shows a smoking article 10 according toone embodiment that is formed of a control body 80 and a cartridge 90.In specific embodiments, the control body may be referred to as beingreusable, and the cartridge may be referred to as being disposable. Insome embodiments, the entire article may be characterized as beingdisposable in that the control body may be configured for only a limitednumber of uses (e.g., until a battery power component no longer providessufficient power to the article) with a limited number of cartridgesand, thereafter, the entire article 10, including the control body, maybe discarded. In other embodiments, the control body may have areplaceable battery such that the control body can be reused through anumber of battery exchanges and with many cartridges. Similarly, thearticle 10 may be rechargeable and thus may be combined with any type ofrecharging technology, including connection to a typical electricaloutlet, connection to a car charger (i.e., cigarette lighterreceptacle), and connection to a computer, such as through a USB cable.

The control body 80 and the cartridge 90 are specifically configured soas to engage one another and form an interconnected, functioning device.As illustrated in FIG. 2, the control body 80 includes a proximalattachment end 13 that includes a projection 82 having a reduceddiameter in relation to the control body. The cartridge includes adistal attachment end 14 that engages the proximal engagement end of thecontrol body 80 to provide the smoking article 10 in a functioning,usable form. In FIG. 2, the control body projection 82 includes threadsthat allow the cartridge 90 to screw onto the control body 80 viacorresponding threads (not visible in FIG. 2) in the distal attachmentend of the cartridge. Thus, the distal attachment end of the cartridge90 can include a open cavity for receiving the control body projection82. Although a threaded engagement is illustrated in FIG. 2, it isunderstood that further means of engagement are encompassed, such as apress-fit engagement, a magnetic engagement, or the like.

The functioning relationship between the control body 80 and thecartridge 90 is further seen in FIG. 3, which shows the two detachedunits in cross section. The control body 80 includes the controlcomponent 20, flow sensor 30, and battery 40. Although these componentsare illustrated in a specific alignment, it is understood that variousalignments of the components are encompassed by the invention. Thecontrol body 80 further includes a plurality of indicators 19 and an airintake 17 in the control body shell 81. A variety of positions for oneor more air intakes are encompassed by the invention. As shown, the airintake 17 is positioned such that air drawn through the intakesufficiently contacts the flow sensor 30 to activate the sensor(although other positions are encompassed, particular if differentsensing means are provided or if manual actuation, such as with a pushbutton, is provided). The shell 81 can be formed of materials alreadydescribed herein in relation to the embodiment of FIG. 1. A receptacle60 also is included at the proximal attachment end 13 of the controlbody 80 and extends into the control body projection 82 to allow forease of electrical connection with the resistive heating element 50 whenthe cartridge 90 is attached to the control body. The terminal end ofthe projection 82 can include an air passage 83, if desired, tofacilitate air flow from the air intake in the control body into thecartridge during use of the article 10.

The cartridge 90 includes a cartridge shell 91 with a mouth opening 18at the mouthend 11 thereof to allow passage of air and entrained vapor(and further inhalable materials, if present) from the cartridge to aconsumer during draw on the article 10. The cartridge 90 furtherincludes an insulator layer 70 and a filter 75 positioned at themouthend of the cartridge near the opening. The cartridge shell 91,insulator layer 70, and filter 75 can be formed of materials as alreadydescribed herein as being useful for such purpose. The insulator layer70 and/or the filter 75 may be absent. The cartridge 90 further includesa conductive substrate 150 that is positioned substantially centrallywithin the cartridge having an open air space therearound for vaporformation. The conductive substrate effectively functions as both theresistive heating element 50 and secondary substrate 53 from FIG. 1. Theconductive substrate 150 includes terminals 51 (e.g., positive andnegative terminals) at the opposing ends thereof for facilitatingcurrent flow through the conductive substrate and for attachment of theappropriate wiring (not illustrated) to form an electrical connection ofthe conductive substrate with the plug 65 positioned at the distalattachment end 14 of the cartridge. When the cartridge 90 is connectedto the control body 80, the plug 65 engages the receptacle 60 to form anelectrical connection such that current controllably flows from thebattery 40, through the receptacle and plug, and to the conductivesubstrate 150. The cartridge shell 91 can continue across the distalattachment end such that this end of the cartridge is substantiallyclosed with the plug protruding therefrom. In other embodiments,however, the distal attachment end 14 of the cartridge 90 can includeone or more air openings 93 that facilitate air flow from the controlbody 80 (e.g., from the air passage 83) into the cartridge. Although theair opening 93 is illustrated in FIG. 3 as an aperture in the distal endof the cartridge 90, it is not so limited. For example, the distalattachment end 14 of the cartridge 90 can have a hub and spoke design,as with the retaining element illustrated in FIG. 4 a. Thusly, the openspaces between the spokes can function as the air openings to allow airflow from the control body 80 into the cartridge 90.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the cartridge 90 includes a dilution airaperture 117. The dilution air aperture 117 can be useful to providedrawn ambient air into the cartridge 90 to dilute the vapor or aerosoldelivered from the smoking article 10 to a consumer. The dilution airaperture 117 can be present in addition to the air intake 17 in thecontrol body 80. Alternatively, the dilution air aperture 117 can bepresent instead of the air intake 17 in the control body 80. In suchembodiments, when an air flow sensor 30 is utilized for detecting drawon the article 10, the flow sensor may be present in the cartridge 90instead of the control body 80, or a flow path may be established suchthat air entering the air dilution aperture 117 in the cartridgecontacts the flow sensor in the control body sufficiently to actuate theflow sensor and cause the programmed response from the article. Inembodiments where alternate means are utilized to actuate power flow tothe resistance heater (e.g., via a push button 16 as shown in FIG. 1 ora capacitance sensor), the distal end 14 of the cartridge 90 and theproximal end of the control body 80 can be fully sealed and/or the airpassage 83 and the air opening 93 can be absent, and air drawn throughthe article 10 can be taken in fully through the air dilution aperture117 or similar component present on the cartridge.

Generally, in use, when a consumer draws on the mouthend 11 of thecartridge, the flow sensor 30 detects the change in flow and activatesthe control component 20 to facilitate current flow through theconductive substrate 150. Thus, it is useful for air flow to travelthrough the control body 80 in a manner that flow sensor 30 detects airflow almost instantaneously. When the flow sensor 30 is positionedwithin the control body 80, it can be useful to have an air intake 17 onthe control body. If desired, a sealed flow path may be provided suchthat the flow sensor 30 within the control body 80 is in fluidconnection with the cartridge interior (and an air intake present on thecartridge body) after the cartridge and the control body are engaged,such fluid connection being sealed with respect to the remainder of thecomponents within the control body but opening into the cartridge 90when attached to the control body. Further, in other embodiments, theflow sensor 30 can be located within the cartridge 90 instead of thecontrol body 80.

To facilitate positioning of the conductive substrate, the cartridge caninclude one or more retaining elements. The retaining elementspreferably are formed of a material that is not electrically conductive.For example, the retaining elements may be formed substantially of thesame material as the cartridge shell 91 or the insulator layer 70. Theretaining elements can take on a variety of configurations with the onlyrestriction being that the retaining elements allow sufficient air flowthrough the cartridge 90 such that vapor and/or aerosol formed thereinpasses through the mouth opening 18 of the cartridge mouthend 11 to theconsumer when drawing upon the article 10.

One example of a retaining element useful according to the invention isshown in FIG. 4 a, which is illustrative of a cross-section taken alongline 4 in FIG. 3. Specifically, this embodiment illustrates a hub andspoke design wherein a plurality of spokes 55 a connects the cartridgeshell 91 to a hub 56 surrounding the conductive substrate 150. In theillustration, portions of the insulator layer 70 are cut away to revealadditional portions of the spokes 55 a attaching to the shell 91.Alternatively, the spokes 55 a can connect to the insulator layer 70.The dimensions of the spokes and the hub can vary. If desired, an outerring element may be included for unifying the spokes and facilitatingease of attachment of the retainer to the shell.

Similarly, FIG. 4b is illustrative of a cross-section taken along line 4in FIG. 3 wherein the retainer comprises two spokes 55 b extendingdirectly from the conductive substrate 150 to the insulator layer 70.Although two spokes are illustrated, more or less could be provided. Ifdesired, a hub element likewise could be used.

The conductive substrate 150 of the invention can be provided as asingle, unitary body, such as illustrated in FIG. 3, which shows asubstantially rod-shaped, single conductive substrate. In otherembodiments, such as already described above, the conductive substratecan be provided as a plurality of individual conductive substrates.Exemplary embodiments of conductive substrate configurations are shownin FIG. 5a through FIG. 5 f, showing cross-sections of a cartridge 90with a cartridge shell 91 and an insulator layer 70. Other elements thatmay be present (such as heater element retainers, a filter, and the likeare omitted for simplicity), but it is understood that any combinationof other elements relevant to a cartridge specifically or smokingarticle generally as otherwise discussed herein may be included. FIG. 5athrough FIG. 5 d show the conductive substrate 150 as a single, unitarycomponent in a variety of possible cross-sectional shapes (in additionto the round cross-section already illustrated). In FIG. 5 a, a centralpassageway 155 is illustrated and may be present in any of theencompassed embodiments. Such central passageway can be useful toincrease the surface area of the conductive substrate for vaporformation. FIG. 5e and FIG. 5f show the conductive substrate as aplurality of individual conductive substrates 150. In FIG. 5 f, asupport band 155 is illustrated. Such support band can be present atdiscrete locations along the length of the conductive substrate rods ormay be present along the entire length thereof and can provide a pointof attachment for the conductive substrate rods and/or can function as aspacer for the conductive substrate rods. A further exemplary embodimentis shown in FIG. 5 g, which shows a partially cut away view of acartridge 90 formed of a cartridge shell 91. In the cartridge 90 isprovided a plurality of individual conductive substrates 150 shaped asdiscs. Two support rods 156, 157 are shown attached to each conductivesubstrate disc and extending the length of the cartridge. Supports of adifferent arrangement may be provided. Such support rods can be usefulfor arranging electrical wiring (not shown) connected to the discs suchthat power from the battery can be delivered to the individual discs orto a plurality of the discs. As above, additional cartridge componentsalso may be present and are not shown in this illustration only as amatter of simplicity. The number, shape, spacing, and powering (e.g.,sequence or number of discs powered at a single time) of the individualconductive substrates shown in FIG. 5g can vary. In some embodiments,the conductive substrates arranged in series can each provide one or aplurality of charges of the aerosol precursor material and any furtherinhalable substance, and the control components of the smoking articlecan provide power to a single disc (or other shaped conductivesubstrate) for the designed number of puffs until the disc is consideredspent and then automatically provide power to the next disc in theseries to provide further puffs. In this manner, the amount of aerosolprecursor and other inhalable material provided can be more preciselycontrolled, and any incidental damage to a single conductive substratedoes not render the entire cartridge unusable.

The foregoing has described various embodiments of the invention whereina conductive substrate is provided within a smoking article. Theconductive substrate may be provided within the cartridge in a mannersuch that the conductive substrate is not intended to be replaceable. Inother words, once the aerosol precursor on the conductive substrate hasbeen used up, the entire article can be discarded (i.e., when thearticle is fully disposable), or the entire cartridge can be discarded(i.e., when the control body is reusable and the used cartridge can bereplaced with a new cartridge having a new conductive substrate chargedwith aerosol precursor). In other embodiments, however, the smokingarticle of the invention can be configured such that the conductivesubstrate itself is removable from the article and replaceable with anew conductive substrate that is charged with aerosol precursor.

In certain embodiments, the conductive substrate can be provided inconnection with a removable substrate support frame. Generally, thesubstrate support frame can comprise any solid material with sufficientrigidity to retain the conductive substrate therein or thereon, thatprovides sufficient surface area for the conductive substrate to releasevapor to be entrained in air passing through the article, and thatprovides sufficient durability to allow for packaging and handlingthereof.

As an exemplary embodiment, FIG. 6 illustrates a smoking article 10 thatis formed of a single, unitary shell 15 (although the article canalternatively be formed of separable control body and cartridgecomponents). The article 10 includes distal end 12 and a mouth end 11,which includes a removable end cap 111 having a mouth opening 18 formedtherein. Within the article is a control component 20, a battery 40, anda flow sensor 30. As already described herein, the control component 20can comprise one or a plurality of separate control components that canbe housed within a single area of the article 10 or may be divided amongmultiple locations within the article. Likewise, the control componentmay be included with one or more of the battery 40 and the flow sensor30. As such, although the control component 20 is illustrated as asingle, separate component of the article, it is understood that theillustration is intended generally to indicate the presence of at leastone control component within the article, and a control componentseparate from the battery 40 or the flow sensor 30 may not be required.

At the mouth end 11, the article 10 includes a cavity 100 providing anopen space for placement of the conductive substrate and formation ofvapor and/or aerosol to be drawn by a consumer from the mouth opening18. Although not illustrated in this figure, the exemplified embodimentsalso can include an insulator layer, if desired, and/or a filter, whichmay be positioned within the removable end cap 111. It is understoodthat such cavity also can be present in the further illustratedembodiments discussed herein.

The article 10 also includes a receptacle 60 that is positioned withinthe article with a receptacle support 61. Such receptacle support 61 canbe formed of any suitable material (preferably an insulating materialthat does not conduct electrical energy to the shell of the article) andcan have any suitable dimensions for retaining the receptacle within theshell in a manner that the receptacle does not become dislodged byrepeated connecting and disconnecting with a plug, such as in the mannerof use of the article disclosed herein.

In contrast to the exemplary embodiments discussed above in relation tothe various figures, the smoking article 10 does not include aconductive substrate or other resistive heating and/or aerosol precursormaterials permanently included in the article. Instead, in theseembodiments, the article is configured such that a removable conductivesubstrate can be removably positioned within the cavity 100 of thearticle. Various embodiments of removable conductive substrates that canbe utilized in a smoking article 10 are illustrated in FIG. 7a throughFIG. 7 g. As illustrated in FIG. 7 a, a conductive substrate 150 ispositioned within a substrate support frame 250. In this embodiment, theconductive substrate 150 is substantially rod shaped; however, othershapes and dimensions as already discussed herein can be used. In use,the substrate support frame 250 can be slid into the cavity 100 of thearticle 10 shown in FIG. 6 through the opening at the mouthend 11 of thearticle when the end cap 111 is removed. The substrate support frame 250includes a handling tab 255 at one end thereof so that the item can behandled without touching the conductive substrate 150 and possiblydamaging the conductive substrate. The opposing end of the support frame250 includes a plug 65 that connects to the receptacle 60 in the article10 illustrated in FIG. 6. Although not illustrated, electrical wiringalso will be included in the article 10 of FIG. 6 to provide anynecessary electrical connections of the various components of thearticle, and electrical wiring likewise will be included with theconductive substrate 150 and substrate support frame 250 shown in FIG. 7a. As such, when the plug 65 on the substrate support frame 250 connectsto the receptacle 60 in the smoking article 10, the necessary electricalconnection is formed so that the removable conductive substrate 150 isfunctional as otherwise disclosed herein for formation of vapor and/oraerosol for inhalation by a consumer upon use of the article. Thesubstrate support frame can be formed of any suitable materialincluding, for example, paper, card board, polymers, or the like.

Although the placement of a single conductive substrate 150 within thesubstrate support frame 250 is shown in FIG. 7 a, the invention is notso limited. For example, a plurality of individual conductive substrates150 can be provided within the substrate support frame 250, and theindividual conductive substrates can take on any useful shape ordimensions. FIG. 7b illustrates an embodiment wherein multipleconductive substrates 150 are positioned within the substrate supportframe. Likewise, discs (as shown in FIG. 5g ) may be positioned within asubstrate support frame to provide a replaceable conductive substratefor the inventive smoking article.

FIG. 7c shows an end view of the mouthend 11 of the article 10 from FIG.6 with the end cap 111 removed and a conductive substrate 150 in asubstrate support frame 250 according to

FIG. 7a inserted therein (with the handling tab 255 being visible). Inthe exemplary embodiment, the interior of the shell 15 of the article 10includes grooves 175 for receiving the substrate support frame 250 andfacilitate proper placement of the conductive substrate 150 within thecavity 100 such that the plug 65 properly engages the receptacle 60 toprovide the necessary electrical connection for the article. Althoughgrooves 175 are illustrated, other embodiments of guides (e.g., rails)may be used to facilitate proper placement of the removable conductivesubstrate within the article 10. Also illustrated in FIG. 7c is anoverwrap 115 included on the exterior of the shell 15.

In FIG. 7a through FIG. 7 c, the conductive substrate 150 is generallysuspended between the components of the substrate support frame 250. Inother embodiments, however, the conductive substrate can essentially becoated or “printed” onto a substrate support frame that can provide asolid backing for the conductive substrate material coated therein. FIG.7 d, for example, illustrates a substrate support frame 250 that is asolid, continuous backing material on which “chips” of the conductivesubstrate 150 are coated thereon. Again, a plug 65 is provided on oneend of the substrate support frame 250, and electrical wiring (notillustrated) can be provided and can be attached directly to thesubstrate support frame 250. The conductive substrate chips can take ona variety of shapes and dimensions, and the sizes and dimensions can bedetermined so as to provide the desired total vapor and/or aerosolrelease desired for each chip. The length of the chip can be similar tothe length values already discussed herein in relation to the conductivesubstrate, and the width and thickness of the chip can be similar to thediameter values already discussed herein in relation to the conductivesubstrate. Although one side of the substrate support frame 250 isvisible in FIG. 7 d, it is understood that further chips of theconductive substrate 150 can also be provided on the opposing side ofthe substrate support frame.

FIG. 7e shows an end view of the mouthend 11 of the article 10 from FIG.6 with the end cap 111 removed and a plurality of chips of a conductivesubstrate 150 positioned on a substrate support frame 250 according toFIG. 7d inserted therein. In the exemplary embodiment, the interior ofthe shell 15 of the article 10 includes grooves 175 for receiving thesubstrate support frame 250 and facilitate proper placement of theconductive substrate 150 within the cavity 100 such that the plug 65properly engages the receptacle 60 to provide the necessary electricalconnection for the article. Although grooves 175 are illustrated, otherembodiments of guides again may be used to facilitate proper placementof the removable conductive substrate within the article 10.

FIG. 7f illustrates a further example of a removable conductivesubstrate within a smoking article according to the invention. As seenin FIG. 7 f, the substrate support frame 250 having a plurality of chipsof conductive substrate 150 formed thereon is partially inserted intothe shell 15 of the smoking article 10, fitting into grooves 175 formedin the shell wall (although other means of facilitating placement of thesupport frame in the cavity of the smoking article also areencompassed). Beneficially, an increase in the available surface area onthe substrate support frame increases the amount of conductive substratethat may be provided on the support frame.

FIG. 7g shows an end view of the mouthend 11 of the article 10 from FIG.7f with the end cap 111 removed and the substrate support frame 250 witha plurality of chips of a conductive substrate 150 positioned thereonfully inserted therein. In the exemplary embodiment, the interior of theshell 15 of the article 10 again includes grooves 175 for receiving thesubstrate support frame 250 and facilitate proper placement of theconductive substrate 150 within the cavity 100 such that the plug 65properly engages the receptacle 60 to provide the necessary electricalconnection for the article.

The control body and cartridge can be characterized in relation tooverall length. For example, the control body can have a length of about30 mm to about 100 mm, about 40 mm to about 90 mm, or about 50 mm toabout 80 mm. The cartridge can have a length of about 20 mm to about 60mm, about 25 mm to about 55 mm, or about 30 mm to about 50 mm. Theoverall length of the combined cartridge and control body (or theoverall length of a smoking article according to the invention formed ofa single, unitary shell) can be approximately equal to or less than thelength of a typical cigarette—e.g., about 60 mm to about 120 mm, about65 mm to about 110 mm, or about 70 mm to about 100 mm.

Although the cartridge and the control body can be provided together asa complete smoking article or medicament delivery article generally, thecomponents also may be provided separately. For example, the inventionalso encompasses a disposable unit for use with a reusable smokingarticle or a reusable medicament delivery article.

In specific embodiments, a disposable unit or cartridge according to theinvention can be substantially identical to a cartridge as describedabove in relation to the appended figures. Thus, a disposable cartridgecan comprise a substantially tubular shaped cartridge shell having adistal attachment end configured to engage a reusable smoking article ormedicament delivery article and an opposing mouthend configured to allowpassage of a formed vapor and any further inhalable materials to aconsumer. The cartridge shell can define an interior cartridge spacethat includes additional cartridge components. Specifically, theinterior cartridge space can include a conductive substrate as otherwisedescribed herein that provides for formation of an aerosol or vapor (andother inhalable materials, if desired) when heated via electricalcurrent. The inner surface of the cartridge shell can include aninsulator layer thereon, and the conductive substrate can be positionedwithin the interior cartridge space interior to the insulator layer. Theconductive substrate can include further hardware (e.g., electricalwiring, electrical terminals, electrical contacts, etc) to facilitatecurrent flow through the conductive substrate. Such further hardware canbe used to provide an exterior electrical connection—i.e., means forforming an electrical connection to a power source when the disposablecartridge is engaged to a reusable control body. For example, thedisposable cartridge can include an electrical plug projecting from thedistal attachment end of the cartridge that can engage a receptacle in acontrol body. The disposable cartridge also can include attachmentmeans, such as threads, beads, or the like to facilitate a mechanicalconnection with a control body.

In addition to the disposable unit, the invention further can becharacterized as providing a separate control body for use in a reusablesmoking article or a reusable medicament delivery article. In specificembodiments, the control body can generally be formed of a shell havinga proximal attachment end (which can include one or more aperturestherein) for receiving an attachment end of a separately providedcartridge. The control body further can include a power source (i.e., anelectrical power source) that can be in electrical connection with oneor more additional components of the control body, include componentsthat facilitate electrical connection with a separately providedcartridge. The control body also can include further components,including components for actuating current flow into a heating member,and components for regulating such current flow to maintain a desiredtemperature for a desired time and/or to cycle current flow or stopcurrent flow when a desired temperature has been reached or the heatingmember has been heating for a desired length of time. Thus, the controlbody can include a flow sensor and further control components. Thecontrol body further can comprise one or more pushbuttons associatedwith one or both of the components for actuating current flow. Thecontrol unit even further may comprise indicators, such as lightsindicating the heater is heating and/or indicating the number of puffsremaining for a cartridge that is used with the control unit. Thecontrol body also can include attachment means, such as threads, beads,or the like to facilitate a mechanical connection with a cartridge.

Although the various figures described herein illustrate the controlbody and the cartridge in a working relationship, it is understood thatthe control body and the cartridge can exist as individual devices.Accordingly, any discussion otherwise provided herein in relation to thecomponents in combination also should be understood as applying to thecontrol body and the cartridge as individual and separate components.

In another aspect, the invention can be directed to kits that provide avariety of components as described herein. For example, a kit cancomprise a control body with one or more cartridges. A kit further cancomprise a control body with one or more charging components. A kitfurther can comprise a control body with one or more batteries. A kitfurther may comprise a control body with one or more cartridges and oneor more charging components and/or one or more batteries. In furtherembodiments, a kit may comprise a plurality of cartridges. A kit furthermay comprise a plurality of cartridges and one or more batteries and/orone or more charging components. The inventive kits further can includea case (or other packaging, carrying, or storage component) thataccommodates one or more of the further kit components. The case couldbe a reusable hard or soft container. Further, the case could be simplya box or other packaging structure.

EXPERIMENTAL

The present invention will now be described with specific reference tovarious examples. The following examples are not intended to be limitingof the invention and are rather provided as exemplary embodiments.

EXAMPLE 1 Preparation of Conductive Substrates

Two exemplary conductive substrates were prepared for use in a smokingarticle according to the invention. In each case, the substratematerials were mixed and extruded to form substrates with a length of 10mm and a diameter of 4.5 mm (Example 1a) and 4 mm (Example 1b). Theformulations and measured resistance for each exemplary substrate areprovided below in Table 1. Percentages are provided on a w/w basis.

TABLE 1 Resistance of Calcined Example Formulation (wt. %) Extrudate(ohms) 1a Milled Carbon (64%) 2.5 Guar Gum (10%) Graphite (20%) SodiumCarbonate (1%) Tobacco (5%) 1b Carboxymethyl cellulose (9.5%) 2 Graphite(90.5%)

To prepare the substrates in Example 1a and 1b, all particulateingredients were thoroughly mixed and water was added to yield adough-like consistency with a moisture content of 39% for example 1a and24.9% for example 1b (on a w/w basis). The dough was extruded using abatch extruder at a pressure of 10,000 psi (68.95 MPa) to form extrudedrods of the diameters noted above. The female extrusion die had atapered surface to facilitate smooth flow of the plastic mass. The dieused in Example 1a was a 5-slot die, and the die used in Example 1b wassmooth. A 0.025 in. (0.635 mm) steel pin was included in the die to forman axial pin hole extending the length of the center of the formed rods.Such pin hole functioned in the manner of a central passageway asotherwise described herein.

The wet rods were placed on a well-ventilated tray for approximately onehour to reduce moisture content. The semi-dry rods were then carefullycut into the 10 mm test lengths while preserving the shape of theextrudate and the integrity of the axial hole. The substrate pieces weredried overnight at room temperature and calcined in nitrogen at 800° C.for one hour in a Barnstead Thermolyne 62700 furnace to form thecarbonized substrate. During calcination, the guar gum and tobacco inExample 1 a and the CMC in Example 1b were converted to their respectivecarbon skeletons, thus increasing the porosity of the extrudates. Rampedheating was used with a ramp rate of 5° C./minute until the maximumtemperature was achieved.

The calcined (i.e., carbonized) substrate pieces were impregnated withglycerol in a Precision Vacuum Oven at a temperature of 100° C. andunder a 30 inch mercury (0.1 MPa) vacuum. The electrical resistance ofthe carbonized substrates was measured along the length of thesubstrates using a Fluke 179 True RMS Multimeter. The average resistancevalues for the samples of the conductive substrate prepared according toExample 1a and Example 1b are provided above in Table 1.

EXAMPLE 2 Effect of Conductive Material Concentration on ElectricalResistance of Conductive Substrate

To test the effect of the electrically conductive material in thesubstrate on electrical resistance, multiple conductive substrates wereformed (without carbonization) and tested. In general, the conductivesubstrates were made by extrusion of a mixture of tobacco (a 5:3:2 ratioof flue cured, Burley, and Turkish tobaccos), graphite (from SuperiorGraphite Company), binder (i.e., carboxymethyl cellulose), and otheradditives. The exact formulations are provided in Table 2A.

In each example, the dry ingredients were mixed in a Sigma Blade Mixer(from Teledyne) for approximately one hour at low speed. Liquidingredients were added to the mix and mixing was continued for anadditional 4 hours. Sufficient water was added to ensure that theplastic mix was stiff enough to hold its shape after extrusion. Themoisture content of the dough at this stage was about 31-32% (w/w). Forextrusion, the plastic mix was loaded into the barrel of a batchextruder and formed into extruded rods of about 4 mm diameter per themethod of Example 1. The wet rods were placed on a well-ventilated trayfor approximately one hour. The semi-dry rods were then carefully cutinto 10 mm lengths while preserving the shape of the extrudate and theintegrity of the axial hole. The cut substrate rods were dried overnightat room temperature.

Electrical resistance was measured along the length of the rods with aFluke 179 True RMS Multimeter, and the results are shown in Table 2A. Asseen in Table 2A, graphite concentration affected electrical resistancesuch that an increase in graphite content resulted in decrease inelectrical resistance from 210,000 ohms to 50 ohms.

In Examples 2a-2d, graphite was the only electrically conductiveadditive used. In examples 2e-2h, several metal powders also were testedto determine their effects on electrical resistance. Copper, aluminumand silver powders were tested as additives. In these examples, thesubstrates were prepared using the same method described above. As shownin Table 2B none of the metals tested showed any significant reductionin electrical resistance.

TABLE 2A Tobacco Graphite, g Carboxymethyl Glycerol PropyleneResistance/ Example (g) (wt %) cellulose (g) (g) Glycol (g) 10 mm (ohms)2a 100 0 (0%)  10 0 0 210,000 2b 50 50 (34.4%) 10 20 15 279 2c 10 30(51.7%) 4 8 6 80 2d 10 90 (62.1%) 10 20 15 50

TABLE 2B Tobacco Graphite Carboxymethyl Additive Glycerol Resistance/Example (g) (g) cellulose (g) (g) (g) 10 mm (ohms) 2e 20 180 20 None 4028 2f 19 180 20 Copper 40 27 (1 g) 2g 19 180 20 Aluminum 40 50 (1 g) 2h10 180 20 Silver 40 140 (10 g)

EXAMPLE 3 Effect of Calcination on Electrical Resistance of ConductiveSubstrate

To test the effect of calcinations on the resistance of the substrate,various substrates were formed using the same methods described inExample 2. The resistance of the substrates was measured before andafter undergoing calcination. The formulations, calcination conditions,and resistance values are discussed below. The tobacco blend was 50%flue cured, 30% Burley, and 20% Turkish tobacco by weight unlessotherwise indicated.

3a: Rods of 100 mm length and 4 mm diameter were prepared from aformulation of 19 g tobacco blend, 180 g graphite, 20 g CMC, 1 g copperpowder, and 40 g glycerol. The non-carbonized rods exhibited aresistance of about 27 ohms. After calcination at 300° C. for 1 hour,the rods exhibited a resistance of about 3.5 ohms.

3b: Rods of 10 mm length and 4 mm diameter were prepared from aformulation of 180 g graphite, 20 g CMC, 10 g copper powder, and 40 gglycerol. The non-carbonized rods exhibited a resistance of about 66ohms. After calcination at 300° C. for 1 hour, the rods exhibited aresistance of about 2.5 ohms.

3c: Rods of 10 mm length and 4 mm diameter were prepared from aformulation of 180 g graphite, 20 g CMC, 10 g silver powder, and 40 gglycerol. The non-carbonized rods exhibited a resistance of about 140ohms. After calcination at 200° C. for 1 hour, the rods exhibited aresistance of about 10 ohms. Alternatively, after calcination at 300° C.for 1 hour, the rods exhibited a resistance of about 1.7 ohms.

3d: Rods of 12 mm length and 4.2 mm diameter were prepared from aformulation of 66 g milled carbon, 18 g graphite, 10 g guar gum, 5 gtobacco blend (i.e., a 50/50 blend of KG-1 and KG-2 milled burleytobacco), and 1 g sodium carbonate. The non-carbonized rods exhibited aresistance of about 209,000 ohms. After calcination at 500° C. for 1hour, the rods exhibited a resistance of about 20 ohms.

3e: Rods of 12 mm length and 4.2 mm diameter were prepared from aformulation of 48.72 g milled carbon, 10 g graphite, 10 g guar gum, 30 gcalcium carbonate, and 1.28 g copper oxide. The non-carbonized rodsexhibited a resistance of about 130,000 ohms. After calcination at 300°C. for 1 hour, the rods exhibited a resistance of about 30 ohms.Alternatively, after calcination at 900° C. for 1 hour, the rodsexhibited a resistance of about 3.9 ohms.

3f: Rods of 10 mm length and 4.3 mm diameter were prepared from aformulation of 140 g milled carbon, 40 g graphite, and 20 g guar gum.The non-carbonized rods exhibited a resistance of about 37.9 ohms. Aftercalcination at 900° C. for 1 hour, the rods exhibited a resistance ofabout 1.3 ohms.

3g: Rods of 10 mm length and 4.4 mm diameter were prepared from aformulation of 140 g graphite, 40 g tobacco blend (i.e., 5 parts fluecured tobacco, 3 parts burley tobacco, and 2 parts Oriental tobacco),and 20 g CMC. The non-carbonized rods exhibited a resistance of about11.7 ohms. After calcination at 900° C. for 1 hour, the rods exhibited aresistance of about 1.0 ohms.

Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention will come tomind to one skilled in the art to which this invention pertains havingthe benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions andthe associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that theinvention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosedherein and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to beincluded within the scope of the appended claims. Although specificterms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptivesense only and not for purposes of limitation.

1.-116. (canceled)
 117. An aerosol precursor material, comprising one ormore polyhydric alcohols in an amount of about 50% to about 98% byweight, based on the total weight of the aerosol precursor, nicotine,and one or more organic acids selected from the group consisting oflevulinic acid, lactic acid, pyruvic acid, and combinations thereof.118. The aerosol precursor material of claim 117, wherein the one ormore polyhydric alcohols are selected from the group consisting ofglycerol, propylene glycol, and combinations thereof
 119. The aerosolprecursor material of claim 117, wherein the one or more organic acidscomprises lactic acid.
 120. The aerosol precursor material of claim 117,wherein the one or more organic acids comprises one or more of thefollowing: about 0.1 to about 0.5 moles of levulinic acid per one moleof nicotine; about 0.1 to about 0.5 moles of pyruvic acid per one moleof nicotine; and about 0.1 to about 0.5 moles of lactic acid per onemole of nicotine.
 121. The aerosol precursor material of claim 117,wherein the one or more organic acids comprises about 0.1 to about 0.5moles of levulinic acid per one mole of nicotine and about 0.1 to about0.5 moles of lactic acid per one mole of nicotine.
 122. The aerosolprecursor material of claim 117, wherein the total amount of organicacid present is no more than equimolar to the total amount of nicotinepresent in the aerosol precursor material.
 123. The aerosol precursormaterial of claim 117, wherein the one or more polyhydric alcoholscomprises a first polyol present in an amount of about 50% to about 90%weight of the aerosol precursor material, and a second polyol present inan amount of about 2% to about 25% by weight of the aerosol precursormaterial.
 124. The aerosol precursor material of claim 123, wherein thefirst polyol is glycerol and the second polyol is propylene glycol. 125.The aerosol precursor material of claim 117, further comprising up toabout 15% water by weight of the aerosol precursor material.
 126. Theaerosol precursor material of claim 117, wherein nicotine is present inan amount of about 0.1% to about 5% by weight of the aerosol precursormaterial.
 127. An aerosol precursor material, comprising glycerol in anamount of about 50% to about 90% weight of the aerosol precursormaterial, propylene glycol in an amount of about 2% to about 25% byweight of the aerosol precursor material, nicotine in an amount of about0.1% to about 5% by weight of the aerosol precursor material, and about0.1 to about 0.5 moles of lactic acid per one mole of nicotine.
 128. Theaerosol precursor material of claim 127, further comprising about 0.1 toabout 0.5 moles of levulinic acid per one mole of nicotine.
 129. Anaerosol delivery article, comprising a resistive heating element inelectrical connection with an electrical power source, and furthercomprising a reservoir containing an aerosol precursor materialaccording to claim 117, the resistive heating element positionedproximal to at least a portion of the aerosol precursor material suchthat heat from the resistive heating element can volatilize the aerosolprecursor material.
 130. The aerosol delivery article of claim 129,wherein the aerosol delivery article delivers a wet total particulatematter (WTPM) amount of at least 1.0 mg for at least one puff whensmoked under standard FTC smoking conditions of 2 second, 35 ml puffs.131. The aerosol delivery article of claim 130, wherein the aerosoldelivery article delivers a wet total particulate matter (WTPM) amountof 1.0 mg to about 5.0 mg for at least one puff when smoked understandard FTC smoking conditions of 2 second, 35 ml puffs
 132. Theaerosol delivery article of claim 129, wherein the resistive heatingelement has an electrical resistance of about 15 ohms or less.
 133. Theaerosol delivery article of claim 129, further comprising a controlcomponent that actuates current flow from the electrical power source tothe resistive heating element.
 134. A kit for a reusable aerosoldelivery article, comprising: a reusable control unit comprising anelectrical power source, a charging component adapted for use with thereusable control unit, and one or more disposable units, wherein each ofthe disposable units comprises a cartridge body with a distal endconfigured to engage the reusable control unit and an opposing,proximate end that includes a mouthpiece with an opening at a proximateend thereof, and further wherein each of the disposable units comprisesa resistive heating element adapted for electrical connection with anelectrical power source, and a reservoir containing an aerosol precursormaterial according to claim 117, the resistive heating elementpositioned proximal to at least a portion of the aerosol precursormaterial such that heat from the resistive heating element canvolatilize the aerosol precursor material.